Two inherited risk markers linked to heart disease in relatives
Close relatives had an adjusted hazard ratio of 2.14 for heart disease when an initial family member had high levels of both markers compared with low levels.
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
In the UK Biobank, an observational cohort study evaluated 27,333 pairs of first-degree relatives who had no prior cardiovascular disease. The older person in each pair served as the index participant. Over a median of 13.9 years, 1,046 relatives developed coronary artery disease, a narrowing of the heart arteries.
The team measured lipoprotein(a), a cholesterol-carrying blood particle, and a polygenic score combining many DNA variants. Relatives of participants in the top tenth of lipoprotein(a) had an adjusted hazard ratio of 1.40 for heart disease. For the polygenic score, the top tenth showed an adjusted hazard ratio of 1.74. When an index participant had high levels of both markers, the relative had an adjusted hazard ratio of 2.14. Adding both markers to conventional risk factors correctly reclassified 21% of relatives.
Why it matters
Coronary artery disease is a primary cause of illness and death as people grow older. The findings support testing family members for lifelong genetic risks to spot high cardiovascular vulnerability earlier in life.
Caveats
As an observational study, the findings show associations rather than cause and effect. The results also do not apply to people with preexisting cardiovascular disease, who were excluded from the analysis.
The paper
Amsterdam University Medical Centre (AUMC)
ESC Congress 2026 Abstract, Oct 26, 2026
Presented at ESC Congress 2026
