skip to content

Matrix Genomics

empowering people through
genetic knowledge

Inherited Risk for Heart Attack ('AMI Gene-Gene Panel')

Inherited risk for Heart Attack

Your level of risk is reported either very low, low, moderate or high, based on genes in cholesterol metabolism and inflammation. It was developed to assess predisposition for white persons of European ancestry.

This is not a diagnostic test and does not indicate the presence or absence of acute myocardial infarction. A risk score is not an absolute indicator that a person will or will not have a heart attack.

Genes in cholesterol metabolism and inflammation, including APOE, identify a level of risk from very low to high

Our overall assessment of inherited predisposition to heart attack evaluates a number of genes that are involved in cholesterol metabolism and inflammation. Table 1 lists the names of the seven investigated genes. They are listed in order of importance from top (most important) to bottom (least important). Exact locations in these genes where DNA duilding blocks are known to differ from person to person are evaluated. The possible outcomes are listed. As an example, the right-hand column labeled with an asterisk indicates the pair of building blocks at each location inherited from 'your' parents.

Table 1. The investigated genes, locations, possible outcomes, and an example of what might be your personal genotypes

Table 1. AMI genes

While there is evidence that the building blocks found at each location influence the risk of heart attack, none of the locations except APOE is an established risk factor for heart attack. APOE as a single factor increases the risk of heart attack by about 40%. Together, the listed building blocks define a very wide range of risk, roughly 100-fold.

Heart Attack Links