Association of the apolipoprotein B gene polymorphisms with cholesterol levels and response to fluvastatin in Brazilian individuals with high risk for coronary heart disease

The influence of genetic polymorphism of the apolipoprotein B on lipid meta bolism and coronary heart disease (CHD) risk has been demonstrated in diffe rent populations, but few studies have shown the contribution of this risk factor in individuals from Brazil. The Ins/del, XbaI and EcoRI polymorphism s of apo B were evaluated in 93 controls and in 104 Caucasian individuals p resenting with a high risk lipid profile (HR1) for CHD; 54 of these subject s (HR2) were treated with fluvastatin during 16 weeks. DNA polymorphisms of the apo B gene were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction-restriction frag ment length polymorphism. The X(-)X(-) genotype for Xbal polymorphism was a ssociated with higher serum concentrations of total cholesterol (TC) and lo w density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) (p<0.01) in women of the HR1 grou p. The Ins/del and EcoRI polymorphisms were not associated with variation o f lipid profile. After treatment with fluvastatin, TC and LDL-C levels of H R2 individuals were reduced by 23% and 30%, respectively. Individuals with II genotype had significantly greater reduction (34%) of LDL-C than those w ith ID/DD genotypes (27%). These results indicate that the Xbal polymorphis m is associated with variation of serum TC and LDL-C levels in Brazilian wo men with lipid profile of risk for CHD and the Ins/del polymorphism is asso ciated with the therapeutic response to fluvastatin.