Variation at the hepatic lipase and apolipoprotein AI/CIII/AIV loci is a major cause of genetically determined variation in plasma HDL cholesterol levels.

Open Access
Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Genetic factors have been shown to play an important role in determining interindividual variation in plasma HDL-C levels, but the specific genetic determinants of HDL cholesterol (HDL-C) levels have not been elucidated. In this study, the effects of variation in the genomic regions encoding hepatic lipase, apolipoprotein AI/CIII/AIV, and the cholesteryl ester transfer protein on plasma HDL-C levels were examined in 73 normotriglyceridemic, Caucasian nuclear families. Genetic factors accounted for 56.5 +/- 13% of the interindividual variation in plasma HDL-C levels. For each candidate gene, adjusted plasma HDL-C levels of sibling pairs who shared zero, one, or two parental alleles identical-by-descent were compared using sibling-pair linkage analysis. Allelic variation in the genes encoding hepatic lipase and apolipoprotein AI/CIII/AIV accounted for 25 and 22%, respectively, of the total interindividual variation in plasma HDL-C levels. In contrast, none of the variation in plasma HDL-C levels could be accounted for by allelic variation in the cholesteryl ester transfer protein. These findings indicate that a major fraction of the genetically determined variation in plasma HDL-C levels is conferred by allelic variation at the hepatic lipase and the apolipoprotein AI/CIII/AIV gene loci.

This publication has 52 references indexed in Scilit: