Measurement of heritability of myocardial blood flow by positron emission tomography: the Twins Heart Study

• Published in: Heart (British Cardiac Society) Vol. 98; no. 6; pp. 495 - 499
• Main Authors: Su, Shaoyong, Votaw, John, Faber, Tracy, Khan, Durreshahwar, Bremner, J Douglas, Goldberg, Jack, Nichols, Ken, Van Tosh, Andrew, Vaccarino, Viola
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and British Cardiovascular Society 01.03.2012; BMJ Publishing Group LTD
• Subjects: Adenosine; Atherosclerosis; Cardiovascular disease; Coronary Circulation - physiology; Coronary flow reserve; Cross-Sectional Studies; cytokines; depression; Diabetes; Family medical history; Flow velocity; genetics; heritability; Humans; Hypertension; Male; Medical imaging; Middle age; Middle Aged; myocardial blood flow; Positron-Emission Tomography; Regional Blood Flow - genetics; Smoking; Studies; twin study; Twins; Twins, Dizygotic; Twins, Monozygotic
• ISSN: 1355-6037; 1468-201X
• DOI: 10.1136/heartjnl-2011-301080

ObjectiveTo estimate the heritability of myocardial blood flow (MBF) and coronary flow reserve (CFR) measured with positron emission tomography (PET).DesignCross-sectional twin study.SettingGeneral clinical research centre of a university hospital at Atlanta, USA.PatientsA sample of 180 middle-aged (mean±SD 55±2.9 years) male twins, including 107 monozygotic and 73 dizygotic twins.Main outcome measuresAll twins underwent imaging of MBF with PET 13NH3 at rest and after adenosine stress during a single imaging session. Structural equation modelling was used to estimate the heritability of MBF at rest and during adenosine stress, as well as of CFR.ResultsThe basal MBF (mean±SD) was 0.69±0.20 ml/min/g, and the MBF during adenosine stress was 1.70±0.49 ml/min/g; the CFR was 2.62±0.99. There was substantial heritability for MBF both at rest (0.48, 95% CI 0.29 to 0.64) and during adenosine stress (0.51, 95% CI 0.29 to 0.68), as well as CFR (0.48, 95% CI 0.26 to 0.65).ConclusionsFor the first time, a substantial genetic contribution to the interindividual variation in MBF and CFR measured with PET in middle-aged men has been demonstrated. The data suggest that a fruitful direction for future work would be the identification of genetic variants for early atherosclerotic stages assessed by PET imaging.