Serum apolipoprotein E in children and adolescents: the Bogalusa Heart Study.
Serum apolipoprotein (apo) E levels and its relationship to lipids and lipoprotein cholesterol fractions were examined in a random subsample (n = 561) of children and adolescents (7 to 17 years of age) from a total biracial community. Mean (+/- SD) levels of apo E were higher in blacks (males 4.8 +/- 1.8 mg/dL; females 5.2 +/- 1.8 mg/dL) than in whites (males 3.9 +/- 1.2 mg/dL; females 4.3 +/- 1.0 mg/dL) irrespective of sex (P less than .001). The black-white difference in apo E persisted after controlling for the covariates: sexual maturation, age, adiposity, cigarette smoking, alcohol use, and oral contraceptive use (P less than .001). A sex differential (females greater than males, P less than .01) for apo E was seen in both racial groups. Apo E levels were inversely associated with age (P less than .01) and sexual maturation (P less than .05) only in white males. Apo E related positively and significantly to total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol fractions (HDL2-C and HDL3-C) in certain race-sex groups. Race, HDL2-C, triglycerides (very-low density lipoprotein cholesterol), HDL3-C, and sex were identified as predictor variables for apo E, in that order, and accounted for 21% of its variability in serum. It is conceivable that the observed race-sex differences in apo E may be related to apo E-HDL subfraction, which is thought to participate in the reverse cholesterol transport.
Srinivasan
S R
SR
Department of Medicine, Louisiana State University Medical Center, New Orleans 70112.
Wattigney
W
W
Webber
L S
LS
Berenson
G S
GS
D000293:Adolescent; D001741:Black or African American; D000367:Age Factors; D001057:Apolipoproteins E / Q000097:blood*; D001800:Blood Specimen Collection; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000097:blood; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D012737:Sex Factors; D012741:Sexual Maturation; D012885:Skinfold Thickness; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood; D044465:White People
D001057:Apolipoproteins E; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL; D008055:Lipids; D014280:Triglycerides