INFLUENCE OF PVUII (INTRON-6) POLYMORPHISM OF THE LIPOPROTEIN-LIPASE GENE ON CORD PLASMA-LIPID AND APOLIPOPROTEIN LEVELS IN INDIAN AND CHINESE NEWBORNS OF SINGAPORE

The influence of the PvuII polymorphism (intron 6) of the lipoprotein lipase (LPL) gene on cord plasma lipid traits was studied in 252 ethni c Chinese and 240 ethnic Indian newborns of Singapore. The allelic fre quencies of P+ (presence of the restriction site) were 0.67 and 0.56 i n the Chinese and Indian newborns, respectively, similar to their resp ective adult populations. The genotype distributions at the PvuII site were at Hardy Weinberg equilibrium in both ethnic Chinese (chi(2) = 2 .0) and ethnic Indians (chi(2) = 3.6). Cord blood HDL-cholesterol (HDL -C) levels are higher in newborn Chinese than newborn Indians. In addi tion, cord blood LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C), apoB, and lipoprotein(a) lev els are lower in newborn Chinese than newborn Indians. Both newborn Ch inese and Indian male homozygotes for P-allele have higher cord blood LDL-C levels than newborns with the more common P+P+ or P-PS genotypes . In Chinese male newborns, the LDL-C levels were 0.76 +/- 0.61 mmol/L , 0.53 +/- 0.29 mmol/L and 0.46 +/- 0.25 mmol/L, respectively (p = 0.0 1). In Indian male newborns, the LDL-C levels were 0.88 +/- 0.35 mmol/ L for the P-P-genotype and 0.65 +/- 0.24 mmol/L for the P+P+ genotype (p = 0.003). In addition, the influence of the P-allele on LDL-C level s is remarkably similar in both ethnic groups, accounting for 8.48% of the population variance in the Chinese newborns and 8.09% in the Indi an newborns. In contrast, no obvious effect of genotype is seen in thi s lipid parameter in the newborn females of either ethnic groups. Ther e is presence of significant genotype specific influence on the LDL-C levels in cord plasma in male newborns, suggesting an early expression of the LPL gene locus.