1. Professor Peter Grant ( Leeds, UK), as outgoing chairman, introduced the meeting by summarising some of the activities of the sub-committee and by providing a brief overview of the complexities of the cardiovascular disease phenotype.
2. Professor Niko Marx ( Ulm, Germany) presented data on the role of various circulating and cellular components of the inflammatory cascade in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease. A general discussion followed on the importance of inflammation in these processes and the evidence as to whether inflammation was causative or an ‘innocent bystander’.
3. Professor Gordon Lowe ( Glasgow, UK) presented a review of meta-analyses of haemostatic variables and risk of coronary heart disease. The Fibrinogen Studies Collaboration has established that fibrinogen shows an independent association. Weaker associations had been established for von Willebrand factor, fibrin D-dimer, t-PA antigen, Factor V Leiden and the prothrombin mutation. To date, there were no significant associations reported for other haemostatic SNP’s, hence further studies of haplotypes might be preferred.
4. Dr Angela Carter ( Leeds, UK) presented a talk on “The Potential of Proteomic Technologies to Discover Novel Risk Factors for Acute Coronary Syndromes”. This talk followed on from previous presentations at the SSC discussing the application of proteomics for identification of predictive variables for cardiovascular disease. The presentation focussed on recent work from Leeds to establish methods for analysing the protein components of ex-vivo formed plasma clots and FXIII substrates. Data were presented from these studies to show that the methodologies employed had so far identified both known and novel clot components. Novel clot components and FXIII substrates included complement proteins, lipoproteins and proteins involved in iron homeostasis. Discussion followed about the details of methodology and the relevance of the novel proteins identified in the context of cardiovascular disease, particularly in light of earlier presentations on the validity of more established inflammatory and haemostatic cardiovascular risk factors. Broader discussions about the future application of proteomics to cardiovascular research also took place.
5. Dr Moniek de Maat, ( Rotterdam, The Netherlands) The genetics of Cardiovascular Disease: SNP and Hapoltype Analysis
6. Dr Licia Iacoviello, Campobasso, Italy The genetics of Cardiovascular Disease: Where Next ?

Both these talks focussed on the potential for genetics in understanding the pathogenesis of coronary artery disease. Both presentations agreed that the use of haplotype analysis provided greater opportunities for rigorous data than SNP analysis alone and some of the theoretical background to the use of haplotype analysis was presented. A lively discussion ensued around the topic of the clinical utility of genetic analysis and the areas of research in which it would provide valuable information.

Summary

Professor Grant summarised the meeting and concluded by stepping down as the current SSC chairman