APOLIPOPROTEIN E5 AND E7 IN APPARENTLY HEALTHY JAPANESE MALES - FREQUENCIES AND RELATION TO PLASMA-LIPID LEVELS

In order to determine the frequencies of apolipoproteins (ape) E5 and E7 and their relation to plasma lipid levels, apo E phenotypes were de termined in 608 healthy Japanese male adults by two-dimensional gel el ectrophoresis. Apo E5 and E7 were observed in 2.8% of the subjects, in addition to the three common ape E isoforms, E2, E3, and E4. Apo E5 w as divided into two subtypes based on the migration rate on SDS/PAGE, E5f is the type with:h faster migration and E5s slower migration. The gene frequencies were: the epsilon 3 allele, 0.841; the epsilon 4 alle le, 0.095; the epsilon 2 allele, 0.049; the epsilon 7 allele, 0.009; t he epsilon 5 allele encoding apo E5f (the epsilon 5f allele), 0.004; a nd the epsilon 5 allele encoding ape E5s (the epsilon 5s allele), 0.00 1. The five individuals with apo E5f and the eleven with apo E7 were h eterozygotes and normocholesterolemic. Also plasma apo B and ape E lev els were not increased in any subjects with apo E5f or apo E7. The dat a suggests that ape E5f and E7 are not rare in the Japanese population but that neither apo E5f nor E7 are associated with hypercholesterole mia in most of the heterozygotes.