Will Aspirin Prevent Heart Disease for You?

Many people take low-dose aspirin daily to prevent heart disease. But — does everyone benefit? The daily aspirin advice is based on large-scale group studies that show that aspirin reduces heart attacks.

We are all unique, and newer research shows that not everyone benefits the same way from aspirin therapy. This article explains some of the genetic research linking specific variants to benefiting from aspirin therapy.  Members will see their genotype report below, plus additional solutions in the Lifehacks section. Join today.  

Aspirin Therapy

There may be multiple ways that aspirin helps to protect some people from heart disease — and it may be different for women than for men.

Here are three studies that have tackled the topic from different points of view.

GUCY1A3 gene and aspirin:

The GUCY1A3 gene codes for an enzyme that, in the presence of nitric oxide, inhibits platelets from sticking together.

Previous research had shown that carriers of the more common GUCY1A3 variant (~63% of the European population) are less sensitive to platelet inhibition from nitric oxide. The body naturally produces nitric oxide, which is released by the inner layer of blood vessels and keeps them flexible. Nitric oxide also helps to prevent platelets from sticking and forming clots in the arteries — with the help of the GUCY1A3 enzyme.

A 2019 study with over 22,000 participants showed that carriers of the more common GUCY1A3 variant were likely to benefit from a reduction in the risk of cardiovascular disease (21% decrease in relative risk). On the other hand, individuals who carried one or two copies of the less common allele had a slight increase in the risk of cardiovascular disease with aspirin therapy.[ref]

COMT gene: Aspirin helps lower cardiovascular disease risk for some women

Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) is the gene that codes for an enzyme that breaks down dopamine, epinephrine, and norepinephrine, as well as other substances. There are many studies on the common genetic polymorphisms of the COMT gene, and most of the studies focus on the neurological aspects of the enzyme.

A study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association looked at the effect of a common COMT polymorphism on cardiovascular disease.  The study also looked at the combined effect of the variant along with either aspirin or vitamin E and cardiovascular disease.[ref]

The study included 23,000 women and analyzed the incidences of cardiovascular disease over a 10 year period. It looked at the COMT Val158Met polymorphism, rs4680, where Val is the same as the G allele and Met is the same as the A allele. Those with two copies of the Val/Val variant (G/G allele) have approximately a 4 times faster rate of dopamine metabolism than those with the Met/Met variant (A/A).[ref]

The findings of the cardiovascular disease study show that women with the COMT Val/Val (G/G) variant are naturally at a lower risk of cardiovascular disease than those with the Met/Met (A/A) allele.

The study also showed that taking low-dose aspirin (100mg every other day) or Vitamin E (600 IU alpha-tocopherol every other day) significantly reduced the risk of cardiovascular disease for those with the Met/Met (A/A) allele. The opposite was true for women with the Val/Val (G/G); they actually had a slightly higher risk of cardiovascular disease with aspirin supplementation and no protection from Vitamin E.

ITGB3 gene and aspirin:

The benefits of aspirin for heart disease are due, at least in part, to its ability to thin the blood. A genetic variant in the ITGB3 gene impacts aspirins’ ability to thin the blood. The gene codes for a protein called Human Platelet Antigen-1 that is involved in how platelets form clots.

Carriers of the rs5918 variant (known also as P1A1/A2) have shown in studies to be at a greater risk of heart attacks. Studies also show that people carrying the P1A2 variant are more resistant to the anticoagulant effects of aspirin.[ref] Note that some studies show no increase in the risk of cardiovascular disease, so other diet or lifestyle factors may be at play here.[ref]

Lifehacks

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