360His polymorphism of the apolipoproteinA-IV gene and plasma lipid response to energy restricted diets in overweight subjects

Obesity is commonly associated with high rates of cardiovascular disease (C VD). Weight loss in obese subjects reduces risk factors for CVD but this re sponse is not uniform. Genetic factors could be involved in this variabilit y. The 360His polymorphism of apolipoproteinA-IV (apoA-IV) influences the l ipid response to fat intake, but it is unclear whether this polymorphism co uld contribute to lipid variability during weight loss. Therefore, we asses sed the effects of an energy restricted diet (6.3 MJ) for 12 weeks on weigh t loss and plasma lipids according to apoA-IV genotype in 186 overweight/ob ese subjects (BMI mean 33 +/- 4.3, range 25.0-48.0 kg/m(2)). The frequency of the 360His allele was 0.083. Energy restriction for 12 weeks resulted in an average weight loss of 8.25 +/- 0.28 kg. HDL-C increased 5.4% in subjec ts with the apoA-IV-1/1 genotype with weight loss compared to a 2.6% decrea se in apoA-IV-1/2 subjects (P = 0.035). This was more apparent when only th e subjects with type 2 diabetes (n = 57) were analyzed (P = 0.003). ApoA-IV genotype was not related to change in total cholesterol, LDL-C or triglyce ride concentrations. Therefore, weight loss as a treatment to reduce CVD ri sk factors may be more effective in subjects with the apoA-IV-1/1 variant a s compared to those with the apoA-IV-1/2 variant, especially in subjects wi th type 2 diabetes. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reser ved.