APOLIPOPROTEIN(A) GENOTYPES IN A SCANDINAVIAN POPULATION - ALLELE FREQUENCIES, CORRELATION TO APOLIPOPROTEIN(A) PHENOTYPES AND LIPOPROTEIN(A) CONCENTRATIONS

Background and Aim: We have studied the distribution of apo(a) KpnI al leles and their relationship to Lp(a) concentrations and apo(a) protei n phenotypes in 455 forty-year-old Danish men. Methods and Results: Th e distribution of apo(a) alleles was similar to that described in a Ty rolean population, and the size of the apo(a) alleles was inversely co rrelated to Lp(a) concentrations. When comparing results of apo(a) Kpn I genotyping and apo(a) protein phenotyping by SDS-PAGE the major diff erences were that subjects with single-banded protein isoform detected by Western blotting, had an allele coding for S4, too. In agreement w ith these findings the majority of the 0 (null) isoforms had two apo(a ) alleles that coded for S4 protein isoforms. Even though most of the apo(a) alleles associated with no detectable apo(a) protein were relat ively large, they were distributed over the entire apo(a) allele size range. Conclusions: When comparing the distribution of apo(a) protein phenotypes and apo(a) KpnI alleles in two groups according to protein size and allele size, respectively, we found no difference between the distributions and the median Lp(a) concentrations in the groups, sugg esting that the use of apo(a) KpnI genotyping would not have changed t he results of previous studies comparing apo(a) allele distributions b y SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. (C) 1997, Medikal Press.