Gene variant associated with low triglyceride levels may protect carriers from heart disease

Coronary artery disease (CAD), or heart disease, is the leading cause of death in Americans. In CAD, cholesterol builds up inside the arteries. High levels of cholesterol in your blood put you at risk of having heart disease. Other substances in your blood, like triglycerides, also increase risk. Triglycerides are fats found in the blood. Some people, though, have very low triglyceride levels. This may protect them from heart disease. Researchers are looking for the differences (variants) in genes associated with low triglyceride levels. One study found a variant associated with very low triglyceride levels in Amish people. We do not yet know how common this variant is in other groups of people. We also do not know if people with this variant are less likely to have heart disease. This project will look for patients with very low triglyceride levels in BioVU. The researchers will see how many of them have this variant. They will also see if these patients have any evidence of heart disease in their medical records. The findings could tell us if this gene variant truly protects against heart disease in the broader U.S. population.