Bangladeshi Atherosclerosis Biobank and Hub: The BANGABANDHU Study

Redoy Ranjan,1 Md Kamrul Hasan,2 Asit Baran Adhikary1,3 1Department of Cardiac Surgery, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Dhaka, Bangladesh; 2Department of Cardiac Surgery, National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, Dhaka, Bangladesh; 3Department of Cardiac Surgery, Impulse Hospital & Research Centre, Dhaka, BangladeshCorrespondence: Redoy Ranjan, International Journal of General Medicine, Department of Cardiac Surgery, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib medical University, Dhaka, 1000, Bangladesh, Email redoy_ranjan@bsmmu.edu.bdBackground: Genetic factors contribute significantly to the risk of ischaemic heart disease (IHD), which is the leading cause of mortality in Bangladesh. The BANGABANDHU (Bangladeshi Atherosclerosis Biobank AND Hub) study will allow a hypothesis-free genome-wide association study (GWAS) to identify genetic risk factors associated with ischaemic heart disease patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery in Bangladesh.Methods: This is a multi-centre population-based case–control study aimed to evaluate 1500 (Fifteen Hundred) adult (≥ 18 years of age) people divided into 2 study groups: Case/Proband (750 IHD patients undergoing CABG surgery) and Control (750 healthy people). Spouses or family members are preferred as healthy control subjects due to their shared geographic location and similar environmental exposure.Results: This will be the first largest DNA repository of CABG patients in Bangladesh, and identifying novel gene loci among CABG patients might help to discover novel therapeutic targets for Bangladeshi IHD patients. Further, identifying and comparing novel gene loci among CABG patients with other ancestry might help devise national guidelines for treating coronary artery disease.Conclusion: Promising current study results will encourage Bangladeshi researchers and pharmaceutical companies to conduct further studies into the genetic basis of Bangladeshi complex coronary artery disease, which might identify novel genes for therapeutic targets for Bangladeshi patients and strengthen the healthcare standards in Bangladesh.Keywords: Bangabandhu, Bangladesh, biobank, IHD, CABG