Genetic regulation of platelet GPVI Dimer levels in healthy individuals

Summary

An individual’s platelet traits and prothrombotic function, as well as their cardiovascular disease risk are highly heritable. The Cambridge Platelet Function cohort is currently a collection of 1,500 individuals with measures of the prothrombotic response of platelets through collagen and ADP signalling pathways, and a further collection of 500 individuals through thrombin signalling pathways. Genetic variation in these individuals has been associated with platelet function traits, with a recent re analysis of all 1,500 individuals identifying novel genetic associations.  

The group is currently extensively phenotyping platelets in 100 patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and 500 patients with thrombotic stroke. Analysis of these collections, alongside a more extensive phenotyping in a further 500 healthy controls will provide a greater understanding of the signalling pathways associated with cardiovascular disease, will advance the development of drug targets and will also provide evidence towards the use of genetic markers for the personalisation of healthcare and treatment strategies. 

Participation: For this study we recruited 500 participants from the Cambridge BioResource. Visits took place at the NIHR Cambridge Clinical Research Facility on the Cambridge Biomedical campus.

Organisation: This study is organised by Professor Willem H Ouwehand from the Department of Haematology, university of Cambridge & NHS Blood and Transplant, Cambridge.