Changes in Mitochondrial Genome Associated with Predisposition to Atherosclerosis and Related Disease

Atherosclerosis-related cardiovascular diseases remain the leading cause of morbidity and mortality, and the search for novel diagnostic and therapeutic methods is ongoing. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations associated with atherosclerosis represent one of the less explored aspects of the disease pathogenesis that may bring some interesting opportunities for establishing novel molecular markers and, possibly, new points of therapeutic intervention. Recent studies have identified a number of mtDNA mutations, for which the heteroplasmy level was positively or negatively associated with atherosclerosis, including the disease at its early, subclinical stages. In this review, we summarize the results of these studies, providing a list of human mtDNA mutations potentially involved in atherosclerosis. The molecular mechanisms underlying such involvement remain to be elucidated, although it is likely that some of them may be responsible for the increased oxidative stress, which plays an important role in atherosclerosis.