APOLIPOPROTEIN-B AND APOLIPOPROTEIN-E, AND ANGIOTENSIN-I CONVERTING-ENZYME (ACE) GENETIC POLYMORPHISMS IN ITALIAN WOMEN WITH CORONARY-ARTERY-DISEASE (CAD) AND THEIR RELATIONSHIPS WITH PLASMA-LIPID AND APOLIPOPROTEIN LEVELS

The XbaI, EcoRI and the signal peptide insertion/deletion (IID) polymo rphic sites of APOB gene, the CfoI polymorphic site of apolipoprotein E gene (APOE), and the insertion/deletion polymorphism of angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) gene were studied using polymerase chain rea ction (PCR) in 55 postmenopausal women with coronary artery disease (C AD) and in 119 control women of equivalent age. Patients and controls were recruited from the population of Pome, considered representative of Central and Southern Italy. There were no significant differences i n allele frequencies between the two groups, though APOB X-, R- and I, APOE3, and ACE D alleles were slightly more frequent in the cases th an in the controls. The patients did not differ from the controls for plasma total cholesterol (TC), HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, and a poAI values, while they presented significantly higher levels of trigl ycerides and apoB, and lower apoE levels. TC, apoE, and apoB quantitat ive values, adjusted for age, varied significantly among APOB XbaI and APOE genotypes. APOB X-X-genotype was associated in patients with a s ignificantly lower mean TC concentration than the other two genotypes pooled together. APOE 3-2 genotype in the controls had significantly l ower TC levels with respect to the other two pooled genotypic classes and higher apoE levels compared to 3-3 and 4-3 genotypes. In the patie nts, 3-2 genotype had significantly lower apoB levels than the pooled 3-3 and 4-3 class. We conclude that in the Italian women the DNA polym orphisms studied in this work do not seem to be important risk factors for CAD occurrence; that apoE quantitation could be another useful pa rameter to identify subjects at risk of CAD; and that APOB X-and APOE 2 are the alleles that most influence the interindividual plasma lipid variation among CAD female patients.