Allele frequencies for candidate genes in atherosclerosis and diabetes among Trinidadian neonates

Trinidadians of South Asian origin have a high prevalence of cardiovascular disease and diabetes compared to Trinidadians of African origin. The degre e to which these differences are related to genetic and/or environmental fa ctors is unclear. To determine whether there might be a genetic basis for t his difference in prevalence of deleterious phenotypes we examined allele f requencies for candidate genes in atherosclerosis and diabetes. We genotype d 81 consecutive neonates of African origin and 103 consecutive neonates of South Asian origin. We evaluated common polymorphisms in I I candidate gen es for atherosclerosis and diabetes. We found differences between the two s ubpopulations in the allele frequencies of several candidate genes, includi ng APOE, LIPC, APOC3, PON1, PON2, and PPP1R3. However er, the differences i n the allele frequencies were not all consistent with the pattern of CHD ex pression between these two ethnic groups in adulthood. Thus, differences in genetic architecture alone may not explain the wide disparities in disease prevalence between these two subpopulations. It is very likely that enviro nmental factors, or unmeasured genetic factors, influence the genetic susce ptibility to disease in these subpopulations.