Apolipoprotein E Polymorphism and Plasma Lipid Levels in Obese Children

Han, Myoung Hee; Kim, Sun Jun

Abstract

PURPOSE: The increased prevalence of dyslipoproteinemia in obese children probably contributes to the high risk of cardiovascular disease associated with being overweight. The genetic makeup is possible one of the factors that influence the impact of obesity on lipid metabolism. A relation between apolipoprotein E (Apo E) polymorphism and lipid metabolism has been convincingly demonstrated in large population. The purpose of this study was to determine whether Apo E polymorphism also influences the risk of dyslipidemia in obese children.
METHODS
We studied 89 obese children with weight-for-height excess of 40% by obesity index. We measured the serum concentration of total cholesterol, triglyceride, HDL-cholesterol, LDL- cholesterol, Lipoprotein (a) (Lp(a)), apolipoprotein A (Apo A) and Apo B after overnight fasting. Apo E gene polymorphism of the 89 obese children and 30 control students were analyzed by ARMS (amplication refractory mutation system) method.
RESULTS
The frequency of etsilon2, etsilon3, and etsilon4 allele were 9.7%, 82.3% and 8.0%, respectively in children. There was no significant difference between Apo E allele frequency of obese children and those of nonobese children. The serum concentrations of total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol and Apo B were lower in etsilon2 genotype. The obese children with etsilon4 genotype had higher frequency of hypertriglyceridemia, increased level of Lp(a) and decreased level of HDL-cholesterol than other types. There was no evidence of EKG abnormality and cardiovascular complications in obese children.
CONCLUSION
Our data demonstrated that obesity is associated with an increase in the risk of lipoprotein abnormalities and that the serum concentrations of total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol and Apo B were influenced by Apo E genotypes.