The genetic basis of familial hypercholesterolemia: inheritance, linkage, and mutations.

ABSTRACT: Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is a genetic disorder of lipoprotein metabolism characterized by high plasma concentrations of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLc), tendon xanthomas, and increased risk of premature coronary heart disease. FH is one of the most common inherited disorders; there are 10,000,000 people with FH worldwide, mainly heterozygotes. The most common FH cause is mutations along the entire gene that encode for LDL receptor (LDLR) protein, but it has been also described that mutations in apolipoprotein B (APOB) and proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 genes produce this phenotype. About 17%-33% of patients with a clinical diagnosis of monogenic hypercholesterolemia do not harbor any genetic cause in the known loci. Because FH has been considered as a pu

SUBMITTER: De Castro-Oros I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3681164 | biostudies-literature | 2010

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature