Determinants of homocysteine-thiolactonase activity of the paraoxonase-1 (PON1) protein in humans.

Homocysteine (Hcy)-thiolactonase (HTase) activity of the paraoxonase-1 (PON1) protein detoxifies Hcy-thiolactone in human blood and could thus delay the development of atherosclerosis. To gain insight into physiological role(s) of the PON1 protein, we studied HTase activities and PON1 genotypes in a group of 184 subjects, 32.6% of whom were healthy, 27.7% had angiographically proven coronary artery disease but did not have myocardial infarction (CAD), and 39.7% had myocardial infarction (MI). We found that the hydrolytic activities of the serum PON1 protein towards Hcy-thiolactone and the organophosphate paraoxon substrates were strongly correlated. PON1-192-RR and PON1-55-LL genotypes were associated with high HTase activity. HTase activity was negatively correlated with age (beta = -0.135, p =0.002), plasma total Hcy (in 192-QR subjects only; r = -0.46, p = 0.001), and positively correlated with total cholesterol (beta = 0.169, p<0.001), but not with HDL cholesterol. Mean HTase activities were similar in CAD subjects, MI subjects, and in healthy controls. However, the frequency of the PON1-192-RR genotype tended to be lower in CAD subjects than in controls (2% vs 10.0%, p = 0.057) and higher in MI subjects that in CAD subjects (10.9% vs 2.0%, p = 0.001). The R-allele was marginally associated with CAD (26.7% in controls vs 17.6% in CAD, p = 0.146) and significantly associated with MI (17.6% in CAD vs 31.5% in MI, p = 0.018). Multiple regression analysis suggests that PON1 genotype, total Hcy, total cholesterol, and age are major determinants of HTase activity in humans.