The Family Atherosclerosis Monitoring In earLY life (FAMILY) study: Rationale, design, and baseline data of a study examining the early determinants of atherosclerosis

Morrison, Katherine M.; Atkinson, Stephanie A.; Yusuf, Salim; Bourgeois, Jacqueline; McDonald, Sarah; McQueen, Matthew J.; Persadie, Richard; Hunter, Barry; Pogue, Janice; Teo, Koon; the FAMILY investigators,

doi:10.1016/j.ahj.2009.07.005

« Previous Next »American Heart Journal
Volume 158, Issue 4 , Pages 533-539, October 2009

The Family Atherosclerosis Monitoring In earLY life (FAMILY) study:

Rationale, design, and baseline data of a study examining the early determinants of atherosclerosis

Katherine M. Morrison, MD, FRCPC
- Department of Pediatrics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
- Reprint requests: Katherine M. Morrison, MD, FRCPC, HSC 3A59, Department of Pediatrics, McMaster University, 1200 Main St, W, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8N 3Z5.
Stephanie A. Atkinson, RD, PhD
- Department of Pediatrics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Salim Yusuf, MD, DPhil, FRCPC
- Department of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
- Population Health Research Institute, Hamilton Health Sciences-McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Jacqueline Bourgeois, MD, FRCPC
- Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Sarah McDonald, MD, FRCPC
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Matthew J. McQueen, MBChB, PhD, FCACB, FRCPC
- Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Richard Persadie, MD, FRCPC
- St Joseph's Healthcare Center, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Barry Hunter, MD, FRCPC
- Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital, Burlington, Ontario, Canada
Janice Pogue, PhD
- Population Health Research Institute, Hamilton Health Sciences-McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Koon Teo, MBBCH, PhD, FRCPC
- Department of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
- Population Health Research Institute, Hamilton Health Sciences-McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
the FAMILY investigators

Received 26 February 2009; accepted 2 July 2009. published online 31 August 2009.

Background

Complex interactions among genetic, epigenetic, and environmental exposures, further modified by a child's postnatal environment, underlie the relationship among maternal health, fetal growth, and the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors in the child and disease in the adult. Few available studies consider the genetic and environmental influences of the family, beyond maternal health. The purpose of this study is to examine the fetal and early childhood family-based determinants for the development of adiposity, CVD risk factors, and atherosclerosis in childhood.

Method

A cohort of 850 children and their families (mother, father, eldest sibling) are being recruited during pregnancy to a prospective longitudinal study to investigate the relative contribution of (a) prenatal and postnatal determinants and (b) individual and family (maternal/paternal) determinants for the development of adiposity and CVD risk factors at 3, 5, and 10 years of age and carotid intima media thickness at 10 years.

Implications

The FAMILY study will advance understanding of the fetal and early childhood determinants for CVD development and will contribute to the design of primary prevention programs based on identification of the most important modifiable determinants for early childhood adiposity and CVD risk factor development.