Apolipoprotein E polymorphism in Vietnamese children and its relationship to plasma lipid and lipoprotein levels

Abstract

We investigated the frequency of apolipoprotein E (apoE) polymorphism and the effect of apoE polymorphism on plasma lipid and lipoprotein levels under different nutritional statuses in Vietnamese children living in urban and rural areas. Three hundred and forty-eight girls (aged 7 to 9 years) were randomly selected from urban and rural areas in southern Vietnam. Their apoE genotypes were analyzed by an Invader assay, and the plasma lipid and lipoprotein levels were determined by enzymatic methods using fasting blood samples. Dietary intake and anthropometry of children were also measured. The frequency of the allele ϵ2 and ϵ4 of the Vietnamese girls was 0.09 and 0.12, respectively. The levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and total cholesterol (TC) of the allele ϵ2 carriers were significantly lower than those of the allele ϵ3 carriers (P < .0001) in both the urban and rural groups. In contrast, the allele ϵ4 carriers tended to show a higher LDL-C level than the allele ϵ3 carriers, especially in subjects with a higher fat intake in urban area. The allele ϵ2 carriers had the same high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and triglyceride (TG) level as the allele ϵ3 carriers, but the allele ϵ4 carriers with a higher fat intake living in urban areas had lower HDL-C and higher TG level than allele ϵ3 carriers. In conclusion, our findings showed that the LDL-C lowering effect of allele ϵ2 was independent of the nutritional status, while allele ϵ4 tended to lower HDL-C and increase the LDL-C level in a high-fat intake population. Therefore, the plasma lipid profiles of apoE ϵ4 carriers may be a risk factor of atherogenesis in Vietnamese, who tend to have a westernized eating habit.