RESTRICTION-FRAGMENT-LENGTH-POLYMORPHISMS OF APOLIPOPROTEIN-B GENE INCHINESE POPULATION WITH CORONARY HEART-DISEASE

Three restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs), EcoRI (R), Xb al (X), and Mspl (M) of the apolipoprotein (apo)B gene, were studied t o determine their distribution frequencies and influence on the lipid profiles in 148 Chinese patients with documented coronary heart diseas e (CHD) and in 153 healthy subjects. The plasma concentrations of chol esterol and apoB showed no difference between the CHD patients and con trols. However, CHD patients had significantly higher concentrations o f low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride and lower conce ntrations of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol than the controls. T he frequencies of these three apoB RFLPs did not differ between the CH D patients and controls. Compared with South Asians and Caucasians, th e Chinese in Taiwan showed a much lower frequency of R-, X+, and M- al leles. There was no evidence of an association between lipid profiles and RFLPs in either CHD patients or controls. The weak association of EcoRI, Xbal, and Mspl polymorphisms of the apoB gene with CHD indicate s that the three RFLPs cannot be used as a predictor for the risk of C HD in the Chinese population.