TY - JOUR
T1 - Genetic and environmental factors on heart rate, mean arterial pressure and carotid intima media thickness
T2 - a longitudinal twin study
AU - Tarnoki, Adam D
AU - Szalontai, Laszlo
AU - Fagnani, Corrado
AU - Tarnoki, David L
AU - Lucatelli, Pierleone
AU - Maurovich-Horvat, Pal
AU - Jermendy, Adam L
AU - Kovacs, Attila
AU - Molnar, Andrea A
AU - Godor, Erika
AU - Fejer, Bence
AU - Hernyes, Anita
AU - Cirelli, Carlo
AU - Fanelli, Fabrizio
AU - Farina, Filippo
AU - Baracchini, Claudio
AU - Meneghetti, Giorgio
AU - Gyarmathy, Anna V
AU - Jermendy, Gyorgy
AU - Merkely, Bela
AU - Pucci, Giacomo
AU - Schillaci, Giuseppe
AU - Stazi, Maria A
AU - Medda, Emanuela
PY - 2019/9/6
Y1 - 2019/9/6
N2 - BACKGROUND: Heart rate (HR), mean arterial pressure (MAP) and carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) are moderately heritable cardiovascular traits, but the environmental effects on the longitudinal change of their heritability have never been investigated.METHODS: 368 Italian and Hungarian twins (107 monozygotic, 77 dizygotic) underwent oscillometric measurement and B-mode sonography of bilateral carotid arteries in 2009/10 and 2014. Within-individual/cross-study wave, cross-twin/within-study wave and cross-twin/cross-study wave correlations were estimated, and bivariate Cholesky models were fitted to decompose the total variance at each wave and covariance between study waves into additive genetic, shared and unique environmental components.RESULTS: For each trait, a moderate longitudinal stability was observed, with within-individual/cross-wave correlations of 0.42 (95% CI: 0.33-0.51) for HR, 0.34 (95% CI: 0.24-0.43) for MAP, and 0.23 (95% CI: 0.12-0.33) for cIMT. Cross-twin/cross-wave correlations in monozygotic pairs were all significant and substantially higher than the corresponding dizygotic correlations. Genetic continuity was the main source of longitudinal stability, with across-time genetic correlations of 0.52 (95% CI: 0.29-0.71) for HR, 0.56 (95% CI: 0.31-0.81) for MAP, and 0.36 (95% CI: 0.07-0.64) for cIMT. Overlapping genetic factors explained respectively 57%, 77%, and 68% of the longitudinal covariance of the HR, MAP and cIMT traits.CONCLUSIONS: Genetic factors have a substantial role in the longitudinal change of HR, MAP and cIMT; however, the influence of unique environmental factors remains relevant. Further studies should better elucidate whether epigenetic mechanisms have a role in influencing the stability of the investigated traits over time.
AB - BACKGROUND: Heart rate (HR), mean arterial pressure (MAP) and carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) are moderately heritable cardiovascular traits, but the environmental effects on the longitudinal change of their heritability have never been investigated.METHODS: 368 Italian and Hungarian twins (107 monozygotic, 77 dizygotic) underwent oscillometric measurement and B-mode sonography of bilateral carotid arteries in 2009/10 and 2014. Within-individual/cross-study wave, cross-twin/within-study wave and cross-twin/cross-study wave correlations were estimated, and bivariate Cholesky models were fitted to decompose the total variance at each wave and covariance between study waves into additive genetic, shared and unique environmental components.RESULTS: For each trait, a moderate longitudinal stability was observed, with within-individual/cross-wave correlations of 0.42 (95% CI: 0.33-0.51) for HR, 0.34 (95% CI: 0.24-0.43) for MAP, and 0.23 (95% CI: 0.12-0.33) for cIMT. Cross-twin/cross-wave correlations in monozygotic pairs were all significant and substantially higher than the corresponding dizygotic correlations. Genetic continuity was the main source of longitudinal stability, with across-time genetic correlations of 0.52 (95% CI: 0.29-0.71) for HR, 0.56 (95% CI: 0.31-0.81) for MAP, and 0.36 (95% CI: 0.07-0.64) for cIMT. Overlapping genetic factors explained respectively 57%, 77%, and 68% of the longitudinal covariance of the HR, MAP and cIMT traits.CONCLUSIONS: Genetic factors have a substantial role in the longitudinal change of HR, MAP and cIMT; however, the influence of unique environmental factors remains relevant. Further studies should better elucidate whether epigenetic mechanisms have a role in influencing the stability of the investigated traits over time.
U2 - 10.5603/CJ.a2019.0089
DO - 10.5603/CJ.a2019.0089
M3 - Article
C2 - 31489962
SN - 1897-5593
JO - Cardiology Journal
JF - Cardiology Journal
ER -