Cardiology Letters 2024, 33(2):107-115

Genetic predisposition to atrial fibrillation in patients with cardiomyopathy

Martin Kmec¹, Michaela Zigová², Eva Petrejčíková²

¹ Kardiocentrum FNsP J. A. Reimana Prešov

² Katedry biológie, Fakulta humanitných a prírodných vied Prešovská univerzita v Prešove, Prešovská univerzita, Prešov, Slovenská republika

Background: Worldwide, atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhytmia in all subtypes of cardiomyopathies (CMP). Genetic testing of CMP genes is a standard aspect of clinical management in affected families.

Aim: To determine the association of selected genetic markers of patients with cardiomyopathies and atrial fibrillation in the region of eastern Slovakia.

Patients and methods: After signing informed consent, clinical data and a venous blood sample were obtained from all study participants for genetic analysis. After analyzing the genetic results, allele and genotype frequencies were calculated in the patient group and in the control group. Our case-control study was conducted in a group of 85 individuals from the region of eastern Slovakia, of which 43.53% were patients with CMP and AF with an average age of 62.65 ± 11.01 years. The group was dominated by men (64.71%) and there were more frequent patients with dilated CMP and at the same time with persistent AF.

Results: Representation of potentially risky alleles associated with AF was higher in the case of rs13143308 and rs2220427 in patients with CMP and AF compared to the control group. The potentially risky T allele of the genetic variant rs3853445 dominated in the control group (73% vs. 68%). After evaluating the allelic and genotypic distributions, an analysis of associations of genetic models of variants rs13143308, rs2220427 and rs3853445 with location in the 4q25 locus in relation to cardiomyopathy associated with AF was carried out. None of these analyses confirmed a significant association of the respective genetic model in relation to CMP associated with AF. The p-value of the odds ratio (OR) calculations was higher than 0.05 in all cases Conclusion: By analyzing the selected genetic markers rs13143308, rs2220427 and rs3853445 located in the 4q25 locus, we failed to statistically confirm their association with cardiomyopathy and related atrial fibrillation. Thus, we can conclude that the basic limitation of our study was the size of the research sample.

Keywords: atrial fibrillation; cardiomyopathy; locus; gene; allele; marker

Published: February 1, 2024  Show citation