Genetics of hypertriglyceridemia

Common and rare genetic variants associated with hypertriglyceridemia ― where the concentration of triglyceride blood lipid is above the ninety-fifth percentile ― are reported online this week in Nature Genetics, The study suggests that both common and rare genetic variants found in the population contribute to susceptibility to hypertriglyceridemia.

Robert Hegele and colleagues report a genome-wide association study in which they identify association of hypertriglyceridemia with common variants at four genes. They sequenced these four genes in individuals with hypertriglyceridemia and in controls and identified a significant excess of rare variants in individuals with hypertriglyceridemia compared to controls.