Mapping a novel locus for familial atrial fibrillation on
chromosome 10p11-q21
Paul G.A. Volders, MD, PhD,*
㛳
Qian Zhu, MD,
†‡㛳
Carl Timmermans, MD, PhD,*
Petra M.H. Eurlings, PhD,
‡
Xiaoyan Su, MD,
†
Yvonne H. Arens, MD, PhD,
§
Li Li, MSc,
‡
Roselie J. Jongbloed, PhD,
§
Min Xia, MD,
‡
Luz-Maria Rodriguez, MD, PhD,* Yi Han Chen, MD, PhD
†‡
From the *Department of Cardiology, Academic Hospital Maastricht, Maastricht, The Netherlands, the
†
Department of
Cardiology, Tongji Hospital, and the
‡
Institute of Medical Genetics, Tongji University, Shanghai, China, and
§
Department
of Clinical Genetics, Academic Hospital Maastricht, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
BACKGROUND Atrial Fibrillation (AF), the most common cardiac
arrhythmia, is a significant public health problem in the United
States, affecting approximately 2.2 million Americans. Recently,
several chromosomal loci and genes have been found to be asso-
ciated with familial AF. However, in most other AF cases, the
genetic basis is still poorly understood.
OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to investigate the
molecular basis of familial AF in a Dutch kindred group.
METHODS We analyzed a four-generation Dutch family in which
AF segregated as an autosomal dominant trait. After the exclu-
sion of linkage to 10q22-24, 6q14-16, 5p13, KCNQ1, KCNE2,
KCNJ2 and some ion-channel-associated candidate genes, a
genome-wide linkage scan using 398 microsatellite markers was
performed.
RESULTS Two-point logarithms of odds (LOD) scores ⬎1atre-
combination fraction [
] ⫽ 0.00 and a haplotype segregating with
the disorder were demonstrated only across regions of chromo-
some 10. Subsequent fine mapping gave a maximum two-point
LOD score of 4.1982 at D10S568 at [
] ⫽ 0.00. Distinct recombi-
nation in several individuals narrowed the shared region among all
affected individuals to 16.4 cM on the Genethon map (flanking
markers: D10S578 and D10S1652), which corresponds to chromo-
some 10p11-q21. Thirteen candidate genes residing in this region,
which could be associated with AF, were screened. No mutation
has been found in their coding regions including the intron splice
regions.
CONCLUSION We identify a novel locus for AF on chromosome
10p11-q21, which provides further evidence of genetic heteroge-
neity in this arrhythmia.
KEYWORDS Atrial fibrillation; Genetics; Mechanism
(Heart Rhythm 2007;4:469 – 475) © 2007 Heart Rhythm Society.
All rights reserved.
Introduction
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia
encountered in clinical practice, particularly in the elderly and
in patients with organic heart diseases.
1
The prevalence of AF
is 0.4% in the general population and increases with age to up
to 6%– 8% in people over 80. There are 2.2 million affected
people in the United States. AF is responsible for as many as
15% of the total number of strokes, compromised cardiac
function, decreased quality of life, and a twofold increase in
mortality. It leads to over 75,000 cases of stroke per year in the
United States alone.
2–5
In the past decade, we have witnessed extraordinary growth
in all fields of knowledge regarding AF. Although the most
widely accepted theory of its mechanism is Moe’s multiple
wavelet hypothesis, other mechanisms, including focal origin,
are also increasingly found to play a role.
6
AF is generally
classified as paroxysmal, persistent, and permanent.
7,8
The
management of AF today is directed toward the conversion to
sinus rhythm, control of the ventricular rate, and the prevention
of thromboembolism.
9
Unlike other cardiac arrhythmias, there
is still no highly successful therapy for AF,
10
with the excep-
tion of patients presenting with focal mechanisms of AF based
on abnormal impulse formation from the atria and pulmonary
veins. These patients can be cured by catheter ablation.
11,12
Coronary artery disease, hypertension, heart failure, and
valvular heart disease are common underlying substrates for
the arrhythmogenesis of AF. The arrhythmia may also occur
㛳
These authors contributed equally to this work.
Some of the results of this paper were obtained by using the program
package SAGE, which is supported by a U.S. Public Health Service
Resource Grant (no. RR03655) from the National Center for Research
Resources. The study was supported by the National Science Fund for
Distinguished Young Scholars (grant no. 30425016), the National Science
Fund of China (grant nos. 30330290, 30528011, and 30470961), the
Program Fund for Outstanding Medical Academic Leader of Shanghai
(grant no. LJ06009), the Program Fund for Shanghai Subject Chief Scien-
tist (grant no. 05XD14014), the Cheung Kong Scholars Program fund by
the Ministry of Education, China, and the Netherlands Organization for
Health Research and Development (grant no. ZonMW 906-02-068 to
PGAV).
Address reprint requests and correspondence: Yi Han Chen, M.D.,
Ph.D., Institute of Medical Genetics, Tongji University, 389 Xin Cun Road,
Shanghai 200065, China. E-mail address: drchen@public7.sta.net.com.
(Received June 10, 2006; accepted December 4, 2006.)
1547-5271/$ -see front matter © 2007 Heart Rhythm Society. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.hrthm.2006.12.023