Findings suggest that the T allele at nucleotide 29 in the TGF-beta1 gene is a risk factor for genetic susceptibility to MI, at least in middle-aged Japanese men.

Mutation of the cardiac troponin T (cTnT) gene is a genetic determinant of familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). A Japanese family of 14 individuals, including 6 with HCM, was subjected to genetic and clinical assessment. Five exons of the cTnT gene were sequenced in all family members. A heterozygous or homozygous T³⁴⁰→A (Phe¹¹⁰→Ile) mutation in exon 9 of the cTnT gene was detected in 11 subjects. Morphological and functional evaluation of the left and right ventricles by echocardiography revealed that 4 of 9 individuals heterozygous for the mutant allele exhibited HCM with moderate cardiac hypertrophy. Cardiac hypertrophy and other clinical features in the 2 subjects homozygous for the mutation were more severe than were those in heterozygous individuals with HCM. Thus, the clinical features of HCM due to the Phe¹¹⁰→Ile mutation in the cTnT gene appear to be modified by a gene dosage effect.