©2006 Schattauer GmbH,Stuttgart Genetic influencesonfibrinogen, tissue plasminogen activatorantigen andvon Willebrand factorinmales andfemales

Abstract

Differences ingenetic influence on death from CHD between males and females have been reported. Haemostatic factors have consistently been associated with risk for coronary heart disease (CHD), butsex differencesingenetic architecturehave not been studied.This study in middle-aged twins investigates whetherthere aresex differencesinmeans and in genetic and/ or environmental variance components of haemostatic riskfactors forCHD.Atotal of 93 monozygotic twin pairs (44 maleand 49 female) and 116dizygotic twin pairs(36 male,40 femaleand 40 opposite sex) were available for this study. Structural equation modelling was used toestimate the relative influence of genetic and environmental factors on variation in levels of fi