Lack of association of the common TaqIB polymorphism in the cholesteryl ester transfer protein gene with angiographically assessed coronary atherosclerosis

The anti-atherogenic effect of cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) ge netic variants associated with lowered enzyme activity is controversial. Mo reover, in a few studies, this effect has been evaluated in the presence of a certain risk factor constellation. We addressed this issue in a case-con trol study, where 415 subjects with angiographically documented coronary ar tery disease (CAD +), 397 subjects without CAD (in 215. CAD was excluded by coronarography (CAD -)), and 188 healthy population controls, were screene d for the CETP TaqIB polymorphism. The prevalence of the low-activity TaqIB 2 allele was 0.396 in CAD +, and 0.428 and 0.416 in CAD - and population co ntrols, respectively (p = 0.40). Its presence was significantly associated with increased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) in population c ontrols (1.40 +/- 0.40 mmol/l in B1B1, 1.52 +/- 0.39 mmol/l in B1B2 and 1.5 8 +/- 0.46 mmol/l in B2B2; p < 0.03 for trend), but not in the other groups . The CETP TaqIB polymorphism accounted for < 1% of the HDL-C variance in t he whole cohort (p = 0.048). After adjustment for other risk factors, the C ETP TaqIB2 allele was found not to be associated with significant changes i n CAD risk independently of an assumed either dominant (odds ratio (OR) 0.9 7; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.66-1.44; p = 0.89) or recessive effect (O R 0.68, 95% CI 0.42-1.12; p = 0.13). The CETP TaqIB polymorphism did not sh ow a significant interaction with other risk factors in influencing CAD ris k. Our findings do not support the hypothesis that a genetic variant result ing in lowered CETP activity is associated with reduced risk of coronary at herosclerosis.