Effects of apolipoprotein E genotypes and other risk factors on the development of coronary artery disease in Southern Turkey

Background: Apolipoprotein E (apoE) plays a major role in lipoprotein metab olism and lipid transport. Associations between apoE genotypes, coronary ar tery disease (CAD) and other risk factors have been described by many inves tigators. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of apoE gene po lymorphism and other risk factors in the development of CAD in subjects who se coronary arteries were evaluated by means of coronary angiography. Metho ds: The study population consisted of 199 subjects (114 male and 55 female) . Of the total, 107 had CAD. The apoE gene was amplified by polymerase chai n reaction (PCR) and then digested by CfoI restriction enzyme. The plasma l ipid levels and other risk factors were also determined in all subjects. Re sults: The epsilon2 and epsilon4 allele frequencies and genotypes carrying epsilon4 allele were significantly higher in CAD (+) patients. Plasma lipid s except triglycerides were increased in CAD (+) cases. We found that apoE genotypes, HT, DM, male gender, age and smoking were the independent predic tors of CAD. There was no association between apoE alleles and lipids. Conc lusion: We conclude that apoE polymorphism (presence of e4 allele) is assoc iated with the development of CAD in Southern Turkey. In our study, we did not observe any effect of apoE alleles on lipid levels. (C) 2001 Elsevier S cience B.V. All rights reserved.