UNC School of Medicine researchers have found a protein that appears to protect against coronary artery disease in older people with surprisingly clear arteries.
By Mark Derewicz
April 5, 2016
CHAPEL HILL, NC – For many people, coronary artery disease (CAD) – the buildup of plaque in the heart’s arteries – is an unfortunate part of aging. By studying the genetic makeup of people who maintain clear arteries into old age, researchers have identified a possible genetic basis for the disease, as well as potential new opportunities to prevent it.
“We believe that our ever-increasing population of people over 65 holds the key to understanding CAD,” said Jonathan Schisler, PhD, assistant professor of pharmacology at the UNC School of Medicine and member of the UNC McAllister Heart Institute, who led the research team. “Our main goal was to try to understand why some people develop CAD and some people with similar risk factors do not, and we found that older people give us a great model to understand the natural disease process.”