Genome-Wide Association Study Of Heart Rate Response To Mental Stress

Ischemia results from an imbalance between myocardial oxygen supply and demand. Ischemia associated with mental stress (MS) has been associated with adverse outcomes in patients with coronary artery diseases (CAD). Higher heart rate (HR) and blood pressure responses to MS are associated with a greater likelihood of MS-induced ischemia. Although multiple genetic loci have been associated with baseline HR, genetic associations for HR responses to MS remain unknown. We aimed to discover the genetic determinants of HR response to MS in a bi-ethnic population. A sample of 499 Caucasian and 271 African American patients with CAD were recruited into the Mental Stress Ischemia Prognosis (MIPS) study. Race was defined using genetic ancestry. Genome-wide SNP data were genotyped using Illumina’s Multi-Ethnic Genotyping (MEG) chip and then imputed to the 1000 Genome Project phase 3 panel. Cardiovascular risk factors, demographic, behavioral, and medication history data were obtained by questionnaires and chart review...