Genetic Determinants of Peripheral Artery Disease

Abstract

Peripheral artery disease—atherosclerosis of the abdominal aorta and lower extremity vascular bed—is a complex disease with both environmental and genetic determinants. Unmitigated disease is associated with major functional decline and can lead to chronic limb-threatening ischemia, amputation, and increased mortality. Over the last 10 years, major advances have been made in identifying the genetic basis of this common, complex disease. In this review, we provide an overview of the primary types of genetic analyses performed for peripheral artery disease, including heritability and linkage studies, and more recently biobank-based genome-wide association studies. Looking forward, we highlight areas of future study including efforts to identify causal peripheral artery disease genes, rare variant and structural variant analyses using whole-exome and whole-genome sequencing data, and the need to include individuals of diverse genetic ancestries.