Triglyceride levels are considered to be an independent vascular risk factor. The influence of polymorphisms in genes such as APOE, APOA5, LPL, LIPC and CETP on these levels has been separately described. The aim of the present study was to analyze the combined effects of these polymorphisms and their interaction with environmental factors.
We genotyped the APOE polymorphism, two variants of APOA5 (S19W and -1131 T/C), five of LPL (D9N, N291S, PvuII, HindIII and S447X), one of LIPC (-250G/A) and one of CETP (TaqI尾) by polymerase chain reaction-restriction and TaqMan assays in 1825 subjects (80%male, mean age 36 years) from the ICARIA study. The combined effect of the variants was analyzed by linear regression with the log-transformed triglyceride variable and adjustment for covariates. The interactions were explored by multiple comparisons.
The 蓻4 allele of APOE, the APOA5 polymorphisms S19W and -1131T/C and the LPL variants D9N and N291S independently and significantly increased triglyceride levels. The HindIII and S447X LPL polymorphisms were significantly associated with lower triglyceride levels. The PvuII (LPL), -250G/A (LIPC) and TaqI尾 (CETP) variants showed no significant associations. There was a statistical trend (p = 0.048) for an interaction between abdominal obesity (waist circumference >102 cm in men and >88 cm in women) and the APOE-蓻4 allele.
Our study shows the influence of the APOE-蓻4 allele, the S19W and -1131T/C polymorphisms of APOA5 and the LPL-D9N, N291S, HindIII and S447X variants on triglyceride levels and suggests that the effect of the 蓻4 allele could by modulated by interaction with abdominal obesity.