Objective To investigate prevalence of atrial fibrillation (AF) in Uygur and Han elderly populations in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region (Xinjiang).Methods Epidemiological survey was conducted among the residents selected through stratified random cluster sampling in the southern,northern and eastern Xinjiang.Results The overall AF prevalence among Uygur and Han elderly people was 3.56％.The crude prevalence of AF was 2.91％ among Uygur elderly people and 4.13％ among Han elderly people.The sex specific prevalence of AF were 3.19％ and 2.61％ among Uygur males and females respectively,and 5.01％ and 3.31％ among Han males and females respectively.The prevalence of valvular AF among Uygur ethnic group was higher than that in Han ethnic group;the prevalence of non-valvular and isolated AF in Han ethnic group were higher than those in Uygur ethnic group.The compliance of aspirin and β-blocker medication among Han ethnic group was better than that in Uygur ethnic group.The compliance of warfarin medication was poor in both Uygur ethnic group and Han ethnic group.The prevalence of ischemic stroke were 8.82％ and 0.98％ in Uygur elderly people with or without AF.The prevalence of ischemic stroke were 6.08％ and 0.70％ in Han elderly people with or without AF.Conclusion The prevalence of AF in elderly people in Xinjiang is similar to the results from other domestic studies,the prevalence of AF in Han elderly people was higher than that in Uygur elderly peoples.

OBJECTIVETo assess the association of KCNE1 (rs1805127) and KCNE4 (rs12621643) polymorphisms with atrial fibrillation (AF) among ethnic Uygur and Han Chinese in Xinjiang.

METHODSA case-control study was carried out. The patients and controls were selected based on ethnicity, gender and age with an 1:1 ratio. DNA was extracted from peripheral blood samples. Genotypes of KCNE1 (rs1805127) and KCNE4 (rs12621643) were determined with a polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) assay.

RESULTSMultivariate Logistic regression analysis showed KCNE1 (rs1805127) to be an independent risk factor for AF among Uygurs, while KCNE4 (rs12621643) was a risk factor for both Uygur and Han patients with AF (P < 0.05). The population attributable risk percentage (PARc%) of obstructive sleep apnea hpoventilation syndrome, obesity, hypertension, cholesterol, Hcy, hs-CRP, IL-6, KCNE1 (rs1805127) and KCNE4 (rs12621643) were 9.68%, 12.06%, 15.76%, 6.91%, 11.37%, 17.78%, 9.31%, 11.27% and 6.46% among the Uygurs, respectively. The PARc% of drinking, hypertension, cholesterol, Hcy, hs-CRP, IL-6, and KCNE4 (rs12621643) were 12.94%, 14.48%, 7.24%, 8.49%, 17.29%, 9.49% and 7.41% among Hans.

CONCLUSIONThe KCNE1 (rs1805127) appears to an independent risk factor for AF in the Uygur population. And the KCNE4 (rs12621643) was an independent risk factor for AF among both Uygurs and Hans. Management of the risk factors of AF based on testing of "risk genes" may have an impact on the prevention and treatment of AF.

Atrial Fibrillation ; etiology ; genetics ; Case-Control Studies ; China ; ethnology ; Humans ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Potassium Channels, Voltage-Gated ; genetics ; Risk Factors