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Diabetes 53:1166-1169, 2004
© 2004 by the American Diabetes Association, Inc.

Brief Genetics Report

Heritability of Multivariate Factors of the Metabolic Syndrome in Nondiabetic Japanese Americans

Melissa A. Austin1, Karen L. Edwards1, Marguerite J. McNeely2, Wayne L. Chandler3, Donna L. Leonetti4, Philippa J. Talmud5, Steve E. Humphries5, and Wilfred Y. Fujimoto6

1 Department of Epidemiology and Institute for Public Health Genetics, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
2 Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
3 Laboratory Medicine, Harborview Medical Center University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
4 Department of Anthropology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
5 Centre for Cardiovascular Genetics, Department of Medicine, Royal Free and University College London, London, U.K.
6 Division of Metabolism, Endocrinology and Nutrition, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington

A rapidly growing body of evidence demonstrates important associations between the metabolic syndrome, characterized by a cluster of risk factors or phenotypes that include dyslipidemia, central obesity, hypertension, and hyperinsulinemia, and both cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. The purpose of the present study was to characterize the metabolic syndrome in a sample of 432 individuals from 68 Japanese-American families, using factor analysis of quantitative phenotypes, and to estimate the heritability of these independent factors. Using nine characteristic phenotypes that included LDL particle size and C-reactive protein (CRP), factor analysis identified three multivariate factors interpreted as lipids, body fat/insulin/glucose/CRP, and blood pressure, explaining 65% of the variance. Heritability analysis revealed significant genetic effects on all of the factors: lipids (h2 = 0.52, P < 0.001), body fat/insulin/glucose/CRP (h2 = 0.27, P = 0.016), and blood pressure (h2 = 0.25, P = 0.026). This analysis shows that independent, multivariate factors of the metabolic syndrome are heritable, demonstrating genetic influences on the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms of the syndrome.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Melissa A. Austin, PhD, Department of Epidemiology, 1959 N.E. Pacific Ave, Box 357236, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-7236. E-mail: maustin{at}u.washington.edu


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Copyright © 2004 by the American Diabetes Association.