Jurilab's Research Fellow Receives Prestigious American Heart Association Award

Jurilab's Research Fellow Receives Prestigious American Heart Association Award Veli-Pekka Valkonen, member of the founding team of OY Jurilab Ltd, Kuopio, Finland, has received the Roger R. Williams Award for Genetic Epidemiology and the Prevention and Treatment of Atherosclerosis. The award, honouring the work of Dr. Williams as a pioneer in the genetics of inherited lipid disorders and prevention of atherosclerosis, was presented to Dr. Valkonen at the 43rd Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention in association with the Council on Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism at the Fontainebleau Hilton Resort, Miami, Fl, USA in March 2003. The award recognises the primary author of the most highly rated abstract in the area of genetic epidemiology. Dr. Valkonen's full abstract "Novel Mutation in Dimethylarginine Dimethylaminohydrolase 1 Gene: A Genetic Risk for Cardiovascular Diseases in Finnish Men" can be found at: http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/full/107/7/e7001 Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) is elevated to a nitric oxide synthase activity inhibiting level in individuals with renal failure, hypercholesterolemia, hyperglycemia, hyperhomocyst(e)inemia, hypertension and coronary heart disease (CHD). In the study recently published in the Lancet (Valkonen et al 2001), it was shown that ADMA was an independent risk factor for acute coronary events in non-smoking men. It was hypothesised that there could be dysfunction in the ADMA degrading enzyme dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase (DDAH); and the DDAH 1 and 2 genes were sequenced, looking for mutations that might explain the variation in ADMA, CHD, and hypertension. Hierarchical phenotype targeted sequencing was used to identify mutations in the DDAH 1 and 2 genes in subjects with elevated ADMA levels. A novel mutation was found in codon 260 of the first exon of the DDAH 1 gene. The mutation was typed in the entire Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor (KIHD) study population. Of 1609 subjects, 13 were heterozygous carriers of the mutation. No mutations or polymorphisms were found in the DDAH 2 gene. A novel mutation Thr87Met in DDAH 1 gene was strongly and independently associated with coronary heart disease and hypertension among middle-aged men from eastern Finland. Jurilab already has one patent application submitted for a mutation in the DDAH 1 gene, a major breakthrough in the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes and in the treatment targeting, drug development and therapy associated with the disease. For further information please contact: Dr. Veli-Pekka Valkonen +358 44 285 2121, vvalkone@messi.uku.fi Nora Kaarela +358 400 897020, nora.kaarela@jurilab.com ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2003/05/08/20030508BIT00450/wkr0001.doc http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2003/05/08/20030508BIT00450/wkr0002.pdf