Abstract
Apolipoprotein E (apo E), a genetic determinant of plasma lipid levels and coronary heart disease (CHD) needs to be investigated in Asian Indians since they have a propensity to develop dyslipidemia and accelerated atherosclerosis. We studied apo E phenotypes and plasma lipid levels in 52 Northern Indian male patients (aged 38–71 years) with angiographically proven CHD, and compared them to 50 healthy blood donors taken as the control group. High levels of Lp(a), (p < 0.05), and a definite trend towards lower levels of HDL-C (p < 0.05), was observed in the CHD patients as compared to the control subjects. The frequency of apo E allele ε3 was 0.86 and 0.862, and ε4 allele was 0.12 and 0.08 in the patients and controls, respectively. However, a lower frequency of the E2 allele was observed in the patient group (ε2 = 0.02) as compared to the controls (ε2 = 0.06) (p = ns). In individuals with apo E3/E3 phenotype, significantly lower HDL-C levels was observed in the CHD patients as compared to the control subjects (p < 0.05). A positive correlation was observed between apo E phenotypes and Lp(a) levels in the CHD subjects as compared to the controls (p < 0.05), the level being significantly high in CHD subjects with at least one E4 allele. To conclude, in this sample of Northern Indian subjects with CHD, there is a significant correlation between apo E3/E3 phenotype and low levels of HDL-C as compared to the control subjects. Further, apo E phenotype is positively correlated with high Lp(a) levels in the CHD subjects having at least one E4 allele. However, these relationships need to be explored in a larger sample of subjects.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Murray CJ, Lopez AD: In: The Global Burden of Disease: A Comprehensive Assessment of Mortality and Disability from Disease, Injuries and Risk Factors in 1990 and projected to 2020. Harvard School of Health, 1996
Hughes K, Aw T, Kuperan P, Choo M: Central obesity, insulin resistance, syndrome X, lipoprotein(a), and cardiovascular risk in Indians, Malays, and Chinese in Singapore. J Epidemiol Commun Health 51: 394–399, 1997
Gupta R, Gupta VP: Meta-analysis of coronary heart disease prevalence in India. Indian Heart J 48: 241–245, 1996
Gupta R, Vasisht S, Bahl VK, Wasir HS: Correlation of lipoprotein (a) to angiographically defined coronary artery disease in Indians. Int J Cardiol 57: 265–270, 1996
Mahley RW: Apolipoprotein E: Cholesterol transport protein with expanding role in cell biology. Science 240: 622–630, 1988
Beisiegel U, Weber W, Ihrke G, Herz J, Stanley KK: The LDL-receptor-related protein LRP, is an apolipoprotein E binding protein. Nature 341: 162–164, 1989
Utermann G, Hees M, Steinmetz A: Polymorphism of apolipoprotein E and occurrence of dysbetalipoproteinemia in man. Nature 269: 604–607, 1977
Davignon J, Gregg RE, Sing CF: Apolipoprotein E polymorphism and atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis 8: 1–21, 1988
Weisgraber KH, Rall SC Jr, Mahley RW: Human apoprotein E heterogeneity. Cysteine-arginine interchanges in the amino acid sequence of the apo E isoforms. J Biol Chem 256: 9077–9083, 1981
Havekes LM, de Knijff, P, Beisiegel U, Havinga J, Smit M, Klasen E: A rapid micromethod for apolipoprotein E phenotyping directly in serum. J Lipid Res 28: 455–463, 1987
Kuusi T, Nieminen MS, Ehnholm C, Yki-Jarvinen H, Valle M, Nikkila EA, Taskinen MR: Apolipoprotein E polymorphism and coronary artery disease: Increased prevalence of apolipoprotein E in angiographically verified coronary patients. Arteriosclerosis 9: 237–241, 1989
Eichner JE, Kuller LH, Orchard TJ, Grandits GA, McCallum LM, Ferrell RE, Neaton JD: Relation of apolipoprotein E phenotype to myocardial infarction and mortality from coronary artery disease. Am J Cardiol 71: 160–165, 1993
Tai DY, Su FH, Chang KH, Lee-Chen GJ: Human apolipoprotein E: Correlation of polymorphism and serum lipid concentrations in Chinese. Chung Hua Hsuch Tsa Chih 62: 133–139, 1999
Kronenberg F, Lobentanz EM, Konig P, Utermann G, Dieplinger H: Effect of sample storage on the measurement of lipoprotein (a), apolipoprotein B and A-IV, total and high density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides. J Lipid Res 35: 1318–1328, 1994
Benkmann HG, Agarwal DP, Vasisht S, Srivastava, LM, Goedde HW: Distribution of apolipoprotein E genotypes in Asian Indians, Hungarians and Papua New Guineans. Anthrop Ant 54: 31–34, 1996
Hallmann DM, Boerwinkle E, Saha N, Sandholzer C, Menzel HJ, Csazar A, Utermann G: The apolipoprotein E polymorphism: A comparison of allele frequencies and effects in nine populations. Am J Hum Genet 49: 338–349, 1991
Utermann G, Hardewig A, Zimmer F: Apolipoprotein E phenotypes in patients with myocardial infarction. Hum Genet 65: 237–241, 1984
Lenzen HJ, Assmann G, Buchwalsky R, Schulte H: Association of apolipoprotein E polymorphism and low density lipoprotein cholesterol. Clin Chem 32: 778–781, 1986
Luc G, Bard JM, Arveiler D, Evans A, Cambou JP, Bingham A, Amouyel P, Schaffer P, Ruidavets JB, Cambien F: Impact of apolipoprotein E polymorphism on lipoproteins and risk of myocardial infarction. The ECTIM study. Arterioscler Thromb 14: 1412–1419, 1994
Kataoka S, Robbins DC, Cowan LD, Go O, Yeh JL, Devereux RB, Fabsitz RR, Lee ET, Wetty TK, Howard BV: The strong heart study. Arterioscl Thromb Vasc Biol 16: 918–925, 1996
Larson IA, Ordovas JM, DeLuca C, Barmard JR, Feussner G, Schaefer EJ: Association of apolipoprotein E genotype with plasma apo E levels. Atherosclerosis 148: 327–324, 2000
Boerwinkle E, Sing CF: The use of measured genotype information in the analysis of quantitative phenotypes in man. III. Simultaneous estimation of the frequencies and effects of the apolipoprotein E polymorphism and residual polygenetic effects on cholesterol, betalipoprotein and triglyceride levels. Ann Hum Genet 51: 211–226, 1987
Krishnaswamy V, Radhakrishnan T, John BV, Mathew A: Pattern of ischemic heart disease: A clinical study. J Indian Med Assoc 55: 153–115, 1970
Chaudhari S, Das S, Das NG: A statistical study on coronary heart disease. Indian Heart J 18: 391–402, 1996
McKeigue PM, Marmot MG, Syndercombe Court YD, Cottier DE, Rahman S, Riemersama RA: Diabetes, hyperinsulinemia and coronary risk factors in Bangladeshis in East London. Br Heart J 60: 390–396, 1998
Kaul U, Sapra R, Ghosh T: In: K.K. Sethi (ed). Coronary Artery Disease in Indians. A Global Perspective. 1998, pp 83–91
Hughes LO, Wojciechowski AP, Raftery EB: Relationship between plasma cholesterol and coronary artery disease in Asians. Atherosclerosis 83: 15–20, 1990
Hegele RA, Evans AJ, Tu L, Ip G, Brunt JH, Connelly PW: A genegender interaction affecting plasma lipoproteins in a genetic isolate. Arterioscler Thromb 14: 671–678, 1994
Kamboh MI, Aston CE, Ferrell RE, Hamman RF: Impact of apolipoprotein E polymorphism in determining interindividual variation in total cholesterol and low density lipoprotein cholesterol in Hispanics and non Hispanic whites. Atherosclerosis 98: 201–211, 1993
Enas EA, Dhawan J, Petkar S: Coronary artery disease in Asian Indians: Lessons learnt and the role of apolipoprotein (a). Indian Heart J 49: 25–34, 1997
Corbo RM, Vilardo T, Ruggeri M: Apolipoprotein E genotype and plasma levels in coronary artery disease. A case-control study in the Italian population. Clin Biochem 32: 217, 1999
Boerwinkle E, Leffert CC, Lin J, Lackner C, Chiesa G, Hobbs HH Jr.: Apolipoprotein(a) gene accounts for greater than 90% of the variation in plasma lipoprotein(a) concentration. J Clin Invest 90: 52–60, 1992
Brewer HB Jr.: Effectiveness of diets and drugs in the treatment of patients with elevated Lp(a) levels. In: A.M. Scanu (ed). Lipoprotein (a). Academic Press Inc., 1992, pp 211–220
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Luthra, K., Bharghav, B., Chabbra, S. et al. Apolipoprotein E polymorphism in Northern Indian patients with coronary heart disease: Phenotype distribution and relation to serum lipids and lipoproteins. Mol Cell Biochem 232, 97–102 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1014869827322
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1014869827322