Association of TaqIB polymorphism in the cholesteryl ester transfer protein gene with plasma lipid levels in a healthy Spanish population

Genetic variants at the cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) locus hav e been associated with CETP activity and mass, as well as plasma high densi ty lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and apolipoprotein A-I levels. We have e xamined allele frequencies and lipid associations for the common CETP TaqIB polymorphism in a sample of 514 healthy subjects (231 men, mean age 37.4 y ears, and 283 women, mean age 35.7 years) residing in Valencia (Spain). The frequency of the less common TaqIB2 allele (0.351; 95% CI: 0.322-0.380) wa s significantly lower than those reported for Northern European populations . Consistent with previous studies, we found a significant association of t he TaqIB polymorphism with HDL-C levels. Homozygotes for the B1 allele had lower HDL-C levels than subjects carrying the B2 allele (P trend < 0.001 an d 0.002, for men and women, respectively). No statistically significant gen otype effects were observed for any of the other lipid measures. Multivaria te models including TaqIB genotype, body mass index, smoking, alcohol, phys ical activity, marital status and education were fitted to predict HDL-C le vels. The TaqIB polymorphism was consistently an independent predictor of H DL-C levels (P ( 0.001), and explained 5.8% of its variance. To evaluate ge ne-environmental interactions, first order interaction terms were tested in to the multivariate model. No statistically significant interactions betwee n the TaqIB genotypes and smoking, alcohol, physical activity or education were detected. In conclusion, we observed a significant association of the TaqIB polymorphism with HDL-C levels, which remained consistent across diff erent levels of behavioral factors. Moreover, we found that the TaqIB2 alle le frequency was lower in our sample than in other European populations, wh ich could be a contributing factor to the unexpectedly high prevalence of c oronary heart disease observed in the region of Valencia. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.