8 Pc Indians and Other South Asians Carry Heart Failure Causing Mutated Gene

Up to 8 percent of Indians and other South Asians carry gene mutation that causes heart failure and potentially fatal heart attacks, according to scientists at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. Researchers demonstrated that the mutation causes hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, the most common form of inherited cardiac disease and the leading cause of sudden cardiac death in young people. Carriers of this mutated gene have about a 80 percent chance of developing heart failure after 45 years of age.

The mutated gene encodes for a protein, called cardiac myosin binding protein-C (cMyBP-C). cMyBP-C controls cardiac muscle contractions and is critical for the normal functioning of the heart. 25 base pairs (DNA letters) are missing in the mutated gene, due to which the tail end of the protein is altered.