Hypertriglyceridemia: the future of genetics to guide individualized therapeutic strategies

The use of genetic information to explore and treat diseases is ever-expanding, varying from the use of classical approaches for monogenetic disorders to the growing genome-wide association studies to understand more complex traits. In hypertriglyceridemia, development has progressed rapidly. We have now observed the use of genetic information to treat monogenetic disorders using gene therapy, which, for the first time, has been implemented successfully in human subjects. In addition, antisense oligonucleotide therapy in mice and more recently, in humans, has been demonstrated to lower triglyceride levels. In polygenetic disease, the use of large-scale genome-wide association studies has changed our perception of the underlying phenotypes, demonstrating a large overlap in common genetic determinants. This information is translated to understanding reactions to drug therapy, but also in relation to environment interaction. Finally, the use of genetics for predicting cardiovascular disease risk is being continuously studied, although clinical application appears to still be far along the road ahead