NEW YORK, July 31 (Praxis Press) Accumulating evidence suggests that oestrogen protects against cardiovascular disease, and oestrogen receptors have been localized to several cell types implicated in the pathogenesis of this disease. Kunnas and colleagues studied a dinucleotide repeat of the alpha oestrogen receptor gene in 119 Finnish men who died suddenly. Men with more repeats within the regulatory region of the gene on both alleles had a significantly greater number of severely narrowed coronary arteries (P = 0.009), larger areas of complicated lesions (P = 0.008), and more calcifications of the coronary arteries (P = 0.01) than men who had fewer repeats. They also had a higher risk of myocardial infarction (odds ratio, 4.4; P = 0.025) and greater predisposition to coronary thrombosis (odds ratio, 11.4; P = 0.04). The extent of this polymorphism of the alpha oestrogen receptor gene is associated with the severity of coronary artery disease in men.