OBJECTIVE: To investigate the allele frequencies of the apolipoprotein (apo)E-CI-CII cluster gene in Hans of Chinese, and its relation to serum lipid levels. METHODS: The study subjects consisted of healthy individuals (male: 196, female: 154; average age: 63.6 +/- 12.0 years) who were randomly selected from health screening. ApoE genotypes were identified by multi-AMRS PCR and both the ApoCI promoter polymorphisms and AvaII polymorphisms of the apoCII gene were detected by using PCR-RFLP. The serum lipid levels were determined using an automatic chemistry analyzer. RESULTS: For ApoE gene, the frequency of E3/3 was 73.4%, it represents the most common genotype from of the polymorphism. The frequencies of E2/2, E2/4 and E4/4 genotypes were all smaller than 1%. For the ApoCI locus, the frequencies of H1/ 1, H2/2 genotypes were 79.7% and 1.7%, respectively. Both the ApoE and ApoCI polymorphisms showed the lack of association with plasma levels in this population. The linkage disequilibrium between ApoE with ApoCI wasn't found, either. The allele frequencies of ApoCII gene were T1 : 70.7% and T2 : 29.3%, respectively. The TG level in subjects carrying with T1/2 (1.49 +/- 0.96 mmol/l) was significant higher than that in subjects with T1/1 (1.29 +/- 0.72 mmol/l), P < 0.05. No significant differences were found between male and female in genotype distribution and allele frequencies of the ApoE-CI-CII gene cluster. CONCLUSION: This result suggested that it might be one of the factors in explaining the lower prevalence rate of atherosclerosis in the China population.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the allele frequencies of the apolipoprotein (apo)E-CI-CII cluster gene in Hans of Chinese, and its relation to serum lipid levels. METHODS: The study subjects consisted of healthy individuals (male: 196, female: 154; average age: 63.6 +/- 12.0 years) who were randomly selected from health screening. ApoE genotypes were identified by multi-AMRS PCR and both the ApoCI promoter polymorphisms and AvaII polymorphisms of the apoCII gene were detected by using PCR-RFLP. The serum lipid levels were determined using an automatic chemistry analyzer. RESULTS: For ApoE gene, the frequency of E3/3 was 73.4%, it represents the most common genotype from of the polymorphism. The frequencies of E2/2, E2/4 and E4/4 genotypes were all smaller than 1%. For the ApoCI locus, the frequencies of H1/ 1, H2/2 genotypes were 79.7% and 1.7%, respectively. Both the ApoE and ApoCI polymorphisms showed the lack of association with plasma levels in this population. The linkage disequilibrium between ApoE with ApoCI wasn't found, either. The allele frequencies of ApoCII gene were T1 : 70.7% and T2 : 29.3%, respectively. The TG level in subjects carrying with T1/2 (1.49 +/- 0.96 mmol/l) was significant higher than that in subjects with T1/1 (1.29 +/- 0.72 mmol/l), P < 0.05. No significant differences were found between male and female in genotype distribution and allele frequencies of the ApoE-CI-CII gene cluster. CONCLUSION: This result suggested that it might be one of the factors in explaining the lower prevalence rate of atherosclerosis in the China population.