Parental history of myocardial infarction: lipid traits, gene polymorphisms and lifestyle

To investigate the relationship between parental history of myocardial infa rction (MI), lipid traits and gene polymorphisms involved in lipid metaboli sm, we examined Dutch men and women, who were selected from a large populat ion-based study. Subjects whose father (n = 112), mother (n = 115) or both parents (n = 115) suffered from a premature MI presented with significantly higher apolipoprotein B (apo B) levels than subjects without a parental hi story (n = 114). Genetic analyses revealed that the apo E4 isoform and the D9N mutation of lipoprotein lipase (LPL) were more frequent among subjects with a parental history (P less than or equal to0.05). A similar trend was found for the LPL N291S mutation. In contrast, the LPL S447X mutation and p olymorphisms at the cholesteryl ester transfer protein (TaqIB) and apo CIII (SstI) loci proved to be noninformative. Body mass index and lifestyle cou ld not explain differences in apo B levels between parental history groups. In contrast, the apo E polymorphism and the LPL D9N mutation accounted for some, but not all, of the higher apo B levels in subjects with a parental history. Therefore, other genetic or lifestyle-related factors must be resp onsible for the increased levels of apo B in individuals with a family hist ory of myocardial infarction. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All ri ghts reserved.