Abstract
The search for variants of mitochondrial genome associated with atherosclerosis, in particular, with carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT), is necessary to understand the role of the damage of mitochondrial genome in the development of atherosclerosis. Such data can be useful to provide novel genetic markers of predisposition to atherosclerosis and molecular targets for further development of technologies aimed to prevent age-related degenerative pathologies. Data presented in this article demonstrate the association of several heteroplasmic variants of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) previously described as proatherogenic ones with cIMT in 251 participants (190 participants from Novosibirsk, Russia, and 61 participant from Almaty, Kazakhstan). It was shown that the occurrence of some variants of mitochondrial genome is different in samples derived from Russian and Kazakh populations; the level of mitochondrial heteroplasmy m.13513G > A correlates negatively with mean cIMT in both Russian and Kazakh participants.