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CCMB Study Finds Novel Genetic Risk Factors for Heart Failure among Indians

  • 18 Jan 2022

A team of scientists at the CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad, have found novel genetic mutations in the beta myosin heavy chain gene (β-MYH7) that are responsible for causing dilated cardiomyopathy among Indians.

The mortality rate due to cardiovascular diseases is very high in India compared to western countries.

Cardiomyopathy

  • Cardiomyopathy changes the integral structure of the heart muscle and as a result, the heart is unable to pump blood efficiently. This increases the risk of heart failure leading to sudden cardiac death.

β-MYH7 & India

  • The β-MYH7 is one of the major genes implicated in cardiac diseases globally.
  • Not many genetic studies were carried out in Indian cardiomyopathy patients.
  • Hence, Researchers at CCMB, Hyderabad sequenced β-MYH7 gene of 137 dilated cardiomyopathy patients along with 167 ethnically matched healthy controls to identify the mutation(s), if any, that are associated with dilated cardiomyopathy in Indian patients.

Findings

  • The study revealed 27 variations, of which seven mutations (8.0%) were novel and were detected exclusively in Indian dilated cardiomyopathy patients.

Benefits of this Study

  • The study can help in developing gene-editing methods that may rescue cardiac contractility of failing hearts among Indians with the novel mutations.