Italian researchers have found a cholesterol-blocking gene in two southern Italian families - the first time it has been identified in a non-black population.
The gene is a mutation of the protein that lets cholesterol flow through the body.
In 2005 the mutated gene was found in 2% of African-Americans.
The discovery holds out hope of finding new ways of keeping cholesterol low and averting heart disease, according to Maurizio Averna of Palermo University.
"We've been trying to understand the genetic basis of metabolic diseases for 20 years," he said.
The gene was found in two families in Sicily and one in Calabria.
The study by a team from Palermo and Modena universities has been published in the official organ of the American Heart Association.
