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The author discusses the connection between the sialylation pathway, plasma levels of non-high-density (HDL) cholesterol, and coronary artery disease. He states the cause of the risk which is the cholesterol-containing lipoproteins comprised by non-HDL cholesterol. Also investigates the study by Nioi et al. about the genetic evidence suggesting a causal association between ASGR1 gene and cardiovascular disease.

Background: Elevated levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) are associated with increased risks of ischemic heart disease and ischemic cerebrovascular disease. We tested whether this is a causal association. Methods: We studied 10,276 persons from a general population cohort, including 1786 in whom ischemic heart disease developed and 741 in whom ischemic cerebrovascular disease developed. We examined another 31,992 persons from a cross-sectional general population study, of whom 2521 had ischemic heart disease and 1483 had ischemic cerebrovascular disease. Finally, we compared 2238 patients with ischemic heart disease with 4474 control subjects and 612 patients with ischemic cerebrovascular disease with 1224 control subjects. We measured levels of high-sensitivity CRP and conducted genotyping for four CRP polymorphisms and two apolipoprotein E polymorphisms. Results: The risk of ischemic heart disease and ischemic cerebrovascular disease was increased by a factor of 1.6 and 1.3, respectively, in persons who had CRP levels above 3 mg per liter, as compared with persons who had CRP levels below 1 mg per liter. Genotype combinations of the four CRP polymorphisms were associated with an increase in CRP levels of up to 64%, resulting in a theoretically predicted increased risk of up to 32% for ischemic heart disease and up to 25% for ischemic cerebrovascular disease. However, these genotype combinations were not associated with an increased risk of ischemic vascular disease. In contrast, apolipoprotein E genotypes were associated with both elevated cholesterol levels and an increased risk of ischemic heart disease. Conclusions: Polymorphisms in the CRP gene are associated with marked increases in CRP levels and thus with a theoretically predicted increase in the risk of ischemic vascular disease. However, these polymorphisms are not in themselves associated with an increased risk of ischemic vascular disease. N Engl J Med 2008;359:1897-908. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The letter is a reply to comments made about the research methods that the authors used in their study of C-reactive protein and risk for ischemic vascular disease.

The article discusses a study which examined the association of the loss-of-function mutations in the gene encoding apolipoprotein C3 (APOC3) with the risk of ischemic vascular disease and nonfasting triglyceride levels. Study results provided show the hazard ratio and confidence interval for ischemic vascular disease. The heterozygosity for loss-of-function mutations and the incidences of ischemic vascular disease and ischemic heart disease are compared in APOC3 carriers and noncarriers.

The article presents a study regarding the genetic association of valvular calcification with aortic stenosis. Methods used include the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genome Epidemiology (CHARGE) consortium, meta-analysis, and computed tomographic scanning. Result shows that aortic-valve calcification is related to the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) level in the lipoprotein a (LPA).