THE APOLIPOPROTEIN-E POLYMORPHISM IN GREENLAND INUIT IN ITS GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE

Apolipoprotein E (apoE) genotypes were determined in Inuit population samples from Nuuk on the south-west coast of Greenland (n = 100) and f rom the Ammassalik region on the south-east coast (n = 78). The epsilo n 2 allele was absent in the latter sample, and the epsilon 4 allele f requency was relatively high, about 23%. As in most other populations, mean plasma lipoprotein-related variables, except high-density lipopr otein (HDL) cholesterol, were higher in both Inuit men and women with epsilon 4 than in epsilon 3 epsilon 3 genotypes (P < 0.05 for triglyce rides in men, and for non-HDL cholesterol and apolipoprotein B in wome n). The estimated apoE allele frequencies were combined with data from other studies of aboriginal peoples to outline a world map of apoE al lele frequencies. A recent study of non-human primates suggests that e psilon 4, and not epsilon 3, is the ancestral allele in humans and we have used the map to generate additional hypotheses regarding the hist ory of the apoE polymorphism in humans.