Variants in the cholesterol ester transfer protein and lipoprotein lipase genes are predictors of plasma cholesterol response to dietary change

There are no definitive explanations as to why individuals with hypercholes terolemia, a major cardiovascular risk factor, respond differently to dieta ry change. Fifty five free-living individuals completed a double crossover trial with two dietary regimens, a high saturated fat diet (providing 21% e nergy from saturated fat and 3% energy from polyunsaturated fat) and a high polyunsaturated fat diet (providing 11% energy as saturated fat and 10% en ergy as polyunsaturated fat), each phase continuing for 4 weeks. Extensive genotyping and several measures of dietary compliance have provided further insights regarding the determinants of extent of cholesterol response to c hanges in the nature of dietary fat. Individuals with the CETP B1B1 genotyp e and the LPL X447 + allele showed an average 0.44 (95% CI: 0.22, 0.66) and 0.45 (95% CI: 0.18, 0.72) mmol/l greater change in total cholesterol, resp ectively, than those with one or more CETP B2 allele or homozygous for the LPL S447 allele when comparing diets high and low in saturated fat. Indices of dietary compliance including changes in reported saturated and polyunsa turated fat intake and change in triglyceride linoleate were not significan tly different between the CETP genotypes. Change in reported saturated (r = 0.36, P = 0.04) and polyunsaturated (r = 0.22, P = 0.05) fat intake and ch ange in triglyceride linoleate (reflecting polyunsaturated fat intake) (r = 0.21, P=0.07), also predicted total cholesterol response to dietary fat ch anges. In multivariate analyses, variation in the cholesterol ester transfe r protein and lipoprotein lipase genes predicted response independent of me asures of dietary compliance, suggesting that these two genes are important determinants of variation in cholesterol response to dietary change in fre e-living individuals. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights res erved.