Apolipoprotein E and atherosclerosis in Greenland Inuit

Arterial, liver, and serum specimens were collected from Greenland Inuit at autopsy and apolipoprotein E genotyping was done on 42 females (mean age = 61.3 years) and 56 males (mean age = 56.8 years). Estimates of the allele frequencies of the apo E, derived from the observed frequencies of the six common apolipoprotein E genotypes, are E2: 0.015 +/- 0.009; E3: 0.776 +/- 0 .030; and E4: 0.209 +/- 0.029. No significant difference was found between these frequencies and those previously reported for Greenland Inuit, Canadi an Inuit, or Alaska natives; however, differences were observed in comparis on with frequencies reported for Japan, Norway, Sweden, USA-Blacks and USA- Whites. Anthropometric data (body mass index, panniculus adiposus thickness ), blood analyte levels (total serum cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, LDL + VL DL-cholesterol, and glycohemoglobin), and prevalence and extent of atherosc lerotic lesions in the aorta and coronary arteries were analyzed for any as sociations with apolipoprotein E genotype. The occurrence of apolipoprotein E2 alleles are very rare and the E4 alleles are slightly more frequent in the Greenland Inuit population as compared to other populations. No signifi cant association between apolipoprotein E genotypes and the extent of ather osclerotic lesions in the aorta and coronary arteries were found, and there does not appear to be any strong evidence for an association of either ser um lipids, glycohemoglobin levels, or adiposity measurements to apolipoprot ein E genotype in Greenland Inuit. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. A ll rights reserved.