South Asians (SAs – those with heritage from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal), have 2-fold increase of heart attacks and 2-3-fold increased risk of diabetes. Some of this is due to diet and lifestyle, but genetics and other unidentified metabolic factors likely play an important role. We are building a comprehensive program to understand broad epidemiology of cardiometabolic risk factors in SAs, deep phenotyping of arterial plaque and ectopic fat, and focused translational intervention studies. With recent NHLBI R01 funding, a new clinic, and other initiatives, we hope to improve the cardiometabolic health of this high risk but undertreated group.
Ongoing projects open for enrollment
South Asian Coronary CTA Study - SACTA
Individuals who self-report as SAs will be recruited to participate in this observational study as well as non-SA controls for comparison. All individuals who consent to participate will 1) complete a survey assessing demographics, medical history, family medical history; 2) have blood collection; 3) and CCTA assessment. The study will serve to generate primary observations as well as preliminary data for future studies.
Study Population
Adults with South Asian descent (South Asians to have both biological parents with ancestry from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh) and non-South Asian Adult volunteers (age 18 years or older).
Inclusion Criteria:
- Males and Females: Age 18 years or above
- South Asian (SA) adults through self-identification (South Asians to have both biological parents with ancestry from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh)
- We also propose to enroll an equivalent number of individuals of other descent as a comparator group (Non-SA Adult Volunteers)
- Sampling Method: Probability Sample
Exclusion Criteria:
- Under the age of 18 years
- Unable to give informed consent
- Impaired renal function: estimated glomerular filtration rate ≤ 45ml/min
- Baseline heart rate≥70 bpm or ≥66 bpm after beta blocker
- Body mass index (BMI) of 35 or greater
- Prior anaphylactic/non-anaphylactic reaction or other contraindication to iodinated contrast
- Anyone who cannot do CCTA for any reason
- Pregnancy
- Status: Recruiting
- Clinical Study Identifier: NCT05367297
If interested, complete the study invitation survey or email us at sahealth@utsouthwestern.edu
South Asian Heart Program Clinic Registry
We will enroll patients seen in our clinic at Coppell (South Asian Heart Program) into a registry which will allow to better understand the clinical aspects of health and disease in SAs. Patients will be asked to volunteer a blood sample for research purposes so we can study metabolic risk factors that might reveal elevated risk.
If you would like to be evaluated in our SAHP clinic for cardiometabolic risk (risk of diabetes and heart attack), please call 214-645-8000 and ask for ‘South Asian Clinic.’ When seen as a patient, you will be asked if you wish to participate in this registry.
Lipoprotein Metabolism and Excess Cardiometabolic Risk in South Asians
Our team has demonstrated that advanced measures of lipid metabolism (protective and adverse) are superior to traditional risk factors and conventional lipids (non-HDL-C, HDL-C, and triglycerides) in predicting ASCVD risk. These advanced measures have been studied primarily in those of European and African descent but not among SAs. Our overall goal is to improve cardiometabolic risk in SAs. The specific objective of this project is to determine whether advanced measures of lipoprotein metabolism explain the excess cardiometabolic risk in SAs. We will leverage the NHLBI-supported Mediators of Atherosclerosis in SAs Living in America (MASALA), the largest longitudinal cohort of U.S. SAs with extensive cardiometabolic phenotyping (N=1,164) and compare these findings to similarly phenotyped White, Black, Hispanic, and Chinese participants in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA, N=6814). This study will utilize existing data and is not open for enrollment for new participants. This is an NHLBI-funded R01 grant 2022-2027.
Other initiatives
We are pursuing studies involving diet, lifestyle, obesity, mental health and other cardiometabolic conditions such as diabetes and fatty liver.