The study used a multidisciplinary approach involving four different study designs, including data from Children of the 90s – a longitudinal study of over 14,000 individuals.
The scientists demonstrated that activity of a gene, known as F2RL3, can be enhanced by smoking and that this gene, which is expressed on blood platelets, can in turn increase the risk of clotting events that lead to a heart attack.
Paper: Epigenetic regulation of F2RL3 associates with myocardial infarction and platelet function by Laura J. Corbin et al. in Circulation Research [open access]