he purpose of the present study is to examine HFE gene mutations in relation to newly diagnosed (incident) coronary heart disease (CHD). In a population-based follow-up study of 7,983 individuals aged 55 years and older, we compared the risk of incident CHD between HFE carriers and non-carriers, overall and stratified by sex and smoking status. HFE mutations were significantly associated with an increased risk of incident CHD in women but not in men (hazard ratio [HR] for women = 1.7, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.2-2.4 versus HR for men = 0.9, 95% CI 0.7-1.2). This increased CHD risk associated with HFE mutations in women was statistically significant in never smokers (HR = 1.8, 95% CI 1.1-2.8) and current smokers (HR = 3.1, 95% CI 1.4-7.1), but not in former smokers (HR = 1.3, 95% CI 0.7-2.4). HFE mutations are associated with increased risk of incident CHD in women.

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doi.org/10.1007/s10654-010-9489-6, hdl.handle.net/1765/20215
European Journal of Epidemiology
Erasmus MC: University Medical Center Rotterdam

Pardo Silva, M. C., Njajou, O., Alizadeh, B., Hofman, A., Witteman, J., van Duijn, C., & Janssens, C. (2010). HFE gene mutations increase the risk of coronary heart disease in women. European Journal of Epidemiology, 25(9), 643–649. doi:10.1007/s10654-010-9489-6