Apolipoprotein E polymorphism modulates the association between obesity and dyslipidemias during young adulthood: The Bogalusa Heart Study☆

Abstract 

To elucidate to what extent apolipoprotein (apo) E polymorphism modulates obesity-induced dyslipidemias during young adulthood, longitudinal data on 759 individuals (72% white/28% black; initial and follow-up mean age, 25.9 and 32.7 years) were examined. Among both races and the total sample, the apo E2 group (with E2/2 or E2/3 phenotype) had significantly lower and the apo E4 (with E4/4 or E3/4 phenotype) group higher low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol than the apo E3 (with E3/3 phenotype) group at both examinations. In addition, the apo E2 group displayed higher high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol in the total sample. No allele-specific effect was noted for the longitudinal changes ([Delta ]). An increase in [Delta ] adiposity, measured as [Delta ] body mass index (BMI), was accompanied by higher increase in [Delta ]LDL cholesterol in the e4 carriers than the e2 carriers among the whites (P [lt ] .05) and the total sample (P [lt ] .01); an increase in [Delta ] triglycerides and decrease in [Delta ] HDL cholesterol in the e2 carriers than the e4 carriers among all the groups (P [lt ] .05 to .001). Among the apo E phenotype groups, the incidence of high ([gt ]75th percentile specific for race and sex) LDL cholesterol at follow-up was in the order E4 [gt ] E3 [gt ] E2 both in the obese (BMI [gt ] 30; P for trend = .033) and the nonobese (BMI [lt ] 25; P for trend = .035) groups. Although the increase of low ([lt ]25th percentile specific for race and sex) HDL cholesterol or high triglycerides showed no apo E phenotype-specific trend, the incidence of high triglycerides without high LDL cholesterol was in the order E2 [gt ] E3 [gt ] E4 only in the obese group (P for trend = .025). The prevalence trend for dyslipidemias at follow-up among the persistently obese and nonobese groups also gave similar results. Thus, apo E gene locus influences not only the levels of certain lipoprotein variables during young adulthood, but also modulates the association between obesity and dyslipidemias.

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