INTERACTION BETWEEN OBESITY AND GENETIC POLYMORPHISMS IN THE APOLIPOPROTEIN-CIII GENE AND LIPOPROTEIN-LIPASE GENE ON THE RISK OF HYPERTRIGLYCERIDEMIA IN CHINESE

To understand the effects of the interaction between genetic polymorph isms and obesity on the risk of hypertriglyceridemia (HTG), two polymo rphisms, an SstI polymorphism on the apolipoprotein Cm gene and a Hind III polymorphism on the lipoprotein lipase gene, were analyzed in 339 Chinese subjects with (82 cases in the HTG group) or without HTG (257 cases in the control group). Our data revealed that the frequencies of obesity, the SstI minor allele (S2), and the HindIII major allele (H) in the HTG group were significantly higher than in the control group . Subgroup analysis revealed that the association between these two po lymorphisms and HTG occurred predominantly in nonobese subjects and in subjects with the less hypertriglyceridemic genotype of another polym orphism. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that all thr ee risk factors (obesity, S2-containing chromosome, and H+ homozygosit y) were associated with HTG, and an interaction was found between obes ity and H+ homozygosity for the occurrence of HTG. The risk of HTG inc reased significantly with combinations of risk factors. Subjects can b e divided into low or high risk groups for HTG using such combinations . These results provide evidence of interaction between obesity and th e HindIII polymorphism of the lipoprotein lipase gene on the risk of H TG.