The Impact of Epigenetics on Cardiovascular Disease.

The Impact of Epigenetics on Cardiovascular Disease. Biochem Cell Biol. 2019 May 21;: Authors: Prasher D, Greenway SC, Singh RB Abstract Mortality and morbidity from the cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) represents a huge burden to society. It is recognized that environmental and individual lifestyle factors play important roles in disease susceptibility but the link between these external risk factors and our genetics was previously unclear. However, the discovery of sequence-independent heritable DNA changes (epigenetics) have helped explain the link between genes and environment. Multiple diverse epigenetic processes, including DNA methylation, histone modification and the expression of non-coding RNA molecules, affect the expression of genes which produce important changes in cellular differentiation and function, influencing the health and adaptability of the organism. CVDs such as congenital heart disease, cardiomyopathy, heart failure, cardiac fibrosis, hypertension and atherosclerosis are now being viewed as much more complex and dynamic disorders. The role of epigenetics in these and other CVDs is currently under intense scrutiny and we can expect important insights to emerge, including novel biomarkers and new approaches to enable precision medicine. This review will summarize recent advances in our understanding of the role of epigenetics in CVD. PMID: 31112654 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Biochemistry and Cell Biology - Category: Biochemistry Authors: Tags: Biochem Cell Biol Source Type: research