LACK OF CORRELATION BETWEEN DNA POLYMORPHISMS OF THE APO-B GENE AND PLASMA-LIPID LEVELS IN KOREAN POPULATION

To assess whether particular alleles of apolipoprotein B (apoB) gene a ffect cholesterol metabolism in Korean population, we have studied the possible association of 8 polymorphic sites in the apoB gene with pla sma lipid levels. Eight of the specific DNA regions, including 7 diall elic sites and one 3'-VNTR locus, were amplified by PCR on 86 subjects . All of the 6 sites except for XbaI and MspI were polymorphic in the sample. The allele frequency of distributions at all these sites was f ound to be different from other populations reported so far, and the 3 '-VNTR locus was unimodal. The genotype frequencies of Ins/Del and 5 R FLP sites, excluding HincII RFLP and 3'-VNTR sites, were in a Hardy-We inberg equilibrium. Haplotype was constructed by 5 diallelic sites and classified into 6 different types. Pairwise estimation of linkage dis equilibrium showed no allelic associations except for AluI and PvuII s ites. There were no statistically significant associations (P < 0.05) between 5 polymorphic sites or haplotypes of the apoB gene and plasma lipid levels.