TEL-AVIV HEIDELBERG 3-GENERATION OFFSPRING STUDY - GENETIC-DETERMINANTS OF PLASMA-FIBRINOGEN LEVEL

Elevated plasma fibrinogen concentrations (fibrinogen) are an importan t independent risk factor of atherosclerotic disease. Using the kineti c method, we measured fibrinogen in 808 individuals, of which 757 were members of 204 pedigrees. Correlation analysis and two-way analysis o f variance (ANOVA) showed a significant association of fibrinogen with age, body mass index (BMI), sex, smoking habits, sport activity, and other lifestyle factors. However, multivariate regression analysis of fibrinogen established an independent significant contribution of only the first three factors. Fibrinogen levels adjusted respectively were subjected to complex segregation analysis. Our aim was to identify th e contribution of major gene effects and residual (within the genotype ) family correlations on fibrinogen variation. Results of this study s uggest codominant alleles at a major locus accounting for 39% of varia tion. There was also evidence of a significant residual parent/offspri ng correlation. (C) 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.