Korean Circ J.  2005 Mar;35(3):233-239. 10.4070/kcj.2005.35.3.233.

Heritability and Segregation Analysis of the Level of LDL-Cholesterol

• Jee SH
• Yun JE
• Nam CM
• Suh I

• KMID: 2093924
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4070/kcj.2005.35.3.233

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
The purpose of this study was to investigate the familial correlation and heritability of the LDL cholesterol level through a segregation analysis.
SUBJECTS AND METHODS
This study was based on the data from 9,884 Korean individuals, ascertained as pedigrees, who had participated in the 1998 and 2001 Korean National Health & Nutrition Examination Survey. The subjects of the segregation analysis were 3,613 Korean with more than five family members.
RESULTS
The LDL cholesterol level revealed a strong familial correlation among spouses, parental-offspring and siblings; a low correlation with spouses, but a high correlation with parental-offspring and siblings. The heritability of the LDL cholesterol level was 37.3%, when controlled for age, age2, gender, age x gender, waist circumference, smoking, alcohol drinking, exercise and education. After the segregation analysis, models of the major gene effects were rejected in the general population. However, the Mendelian dominant and co-dominant models were found in high risk families.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the randomly ascertained Korean families of this study showed strong familial aggregation in the LDL cholesterol level. This suggested that variations in the level of LDL cholesterol may be influenced by a major gene effect.

Keyword

LDL cholesterol; Heritability; Segregation

MeSH Terms

Alcohol Drinking
Cholesterol, LDL
Education
Humans
Siblings
Smoke
Smoking
Spouses
Waist Circumference
Cholesterol, LDL
Smoke