The association study of lipid metabolism gene polymorphisms with AMD identifies a protective role for APOE-E2 allele in the wet form in a Northern Spanish population.

Abstract

To elucidate the potential role of eleven single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the most relevant lipid metabolism genes in Northern Spanish patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD). A case-control study of 228 unrelated native Northern Spanish patients diagnosed with AMD (73 dry and 155 wet) and 95 healthy controls was performed. DNA was isolated from peripheral blood and genotyped for the SNPs APOE rs429358 and rs7412; CTEP rs3764261; LIPC rs10468017 and rs493258; LPL rs12678919; ABCA1 rs1883025; ABCA4 rs76157638, rs3112831 and rs1800555; and SCARB1 rs5888, using TaqMan probes. An additional association study of ε2, ε3 and ε4 major isoforms of APOE gene with AMD has been carried out. The allele and genotype frequencies for each of the eleven sequence variants in the lipid metabolism genes did not show significant differences when comparing AMD cases and controls. Statistical analysis revealed that APOE-ε2 carrier genotypes were less frequently observed in patients with wet AMD compared to controls (5.8% versus 13.7%, respectively: p=3.28×10-2 ; OR=0.42, 95% CI: 0.19-0.95). The frequency of the allele T of rs10468017 (LIPC gene) was lower in dry AMD cases compared to controls (15.8 versus 27.9%, respectively: p=8.4×10-3 OR=0.57, 95% CI: 0.33-0.98). Our results suggest a protective role for APOE-ε2 allele to wet AMD in the Northern Spanish population.