Genetics of atrial fibrillation-an update of recent findings

Mol Biol Rep. 2022 Aug;49(8):8121-8129. doi: 10.1007/s11033-022-07420-2. Epub 2022 May 19.

Abstract

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common cardiac arrhythmia and a major risk factor for stroke, heart failure, and premature death. AF has a strong genetic predisposition. This review highlights the recent findings on the genetics of AF from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and high-throughput sequencing studies. The consensus from GWAS implies that AF is both polygenic and pleiotropic in nature. With the advent of whole-genome sequencing and whole-exome sequencing, rare variants associated with AF pathogenesis have been identified. The recent studies have contributed towards better understanding of AF pathogenesis.

Keywords: Atrial fibrillation; Genome-wide association studies; Whole-exome sequencing; Whole-genome sequencing.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Atrial Fibrillation* / genetics
  • Atrial Fibrillation* / pathology
  • Genetic Predisposition to Disease
  • Genome-Wide Association Study*
  • High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing
  • Humans
  • Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / genetics