LACK OF ASSOCIATION OF APOLIPOPROTEIN-E POLYMORPHISM WITH PLASMA LP(A) LEVELS IN THE CHINESE

Apolipoprotein E (apoE) polymorphism and its influence on plasma lipid s, lipoproteins, lipoprotein (a) [Lp(a)] and apolipoproteins was studi ed in 536 (270 males and 266 females) healthy Chinese in Singapore. Fr om analysis of variance with age and BMI as covariates, apoE genotype was found to exert a significant influence on plasma total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and apoB in females . Its effect in males was marginally significant only on LDL-C. In bot h sexes, plasma TC, LDL-C and apoB were lower in those who were E2-3 t han in those who were E3-3. There was no significant difference in log -transformed Lp(a) level between the apoE genotypes after adjusting fo r the confounding effect of LDL-C in addition to age and BMI. The perc entage variance (R(2) X 100) of the lipid traits explained by apoE pol ymorphism in the females was 4.94% for plasma TC, 5.85% for LDL-C and 4.25% for apoB. We conclude that: 1) epsilon 2 allele had a lowering e ffect on plasma TC, LDL-C and apoB; 2) apoE polymorphism did not have any significant influence on Lp(a) concentration; and 3) the effect of apoE polymorphism on plasma TC, LDL-C and apoB was gender-specific, w ith a stronger influence in females than in males.