OSAKA -- About 10 percent of Japanese carry one of four gene mutations linked to abnormalities in blood clotting that may be connected to circulatory breakdowns such as cerebral infarction, according to the latest findings of a Japanese research group.
Patients suffering from thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, as well as their relatives, were found with a mutation in one of these genes, which are responsible for creating an enzyme that clots blood, according to the researchers.
TTP is a rapidly fatal or occasionally protracted disease, and has various symptoms, including purpura, characterized by hemorrhages in the skin.
The research group, which included members of the National Cardiovascular Center in Suita, Osaka Prefecture, and Nara Medical University in Kashihara, Nara Prefecture, made the findings in a study of several TTP patients and members of their families.
In a subsequent study, the group examined the genes of some 360 Japanese, of which 10 percent exhibited signs that the enzyme was only half active.