Research led by the University of Leicester has found that a common heart disease, which kills thousands each year, may be passed genetically from father to son.

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the name given to the narrowing of blood vessels delivering blood to the heart, meaning that not enough oxygen can reach it. This can lead to angina symptoms, such as constriction of the chest, and in some cases, fatal heart attacks. The British Heart Foundation found that CAD caused 88,236 deaths in 2008 in the United Kingdom, with 49,665 deaths among men and 38,571 among women.

The paper, which was published in medical journal The Lancet on 9 February, showed that the Y chromosome, a part of DNA present only in men, plays a role in the inheritance of CAD. Principal investigator Dr Maciej Tomaszewski, a clinical senior lecturer at the University's Department of Cardiovascular Sciences was very excited about these findings and expressed a wish to further analyse the human Y chromosome to find specific genes and variants that drive this association.

Researchers from the University's world-renowned Department of Genetics were also involved in this study as was expertise from the Leicester Cardiovascular Biomedical Research Unit based at Glenfield Hospital.

• University Press Release
• Inheritance of coronary artery disease in men: an analysis of the role of the Y chromosome