Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 1 of 1
Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network
Genetic Basis For Elevated Rheumatic Heart Disease Susceptibility In Samoa, John Bowen Allen
Genetic Basis For Elevated Rheumatic Heart Disease Susceptibility In Samoa, John Bowen Allen
Theses and Dissertations
Rheumatic heart disease is an inflammatory heart disease that affects millions of people around the world. Especially high rates of the disease can be found in Oceania, including the island nation of Samoa. Genetic studies of immune response genes have provided insight into a possible genetic link to increased susceptibility to rheumatic heart disease, including the genes that code for the toll-like receptor (TLR) protein family. One of the functions of TLR proteins is to recognize the presence of bacteria via identification of bacterial flagella. My evaluation of a Samoan family identified a variant in the TLR-5 gene that would …