title: Apolipoprotein E phenotypes and plasma lipids in diabetic children and adolescents.
abstract: Apolipoprotein E (apoE) polymorphism is a genetic determinant of serum lipoprotein levels and coronary heart disease risk. ApoE appears in three major isoforms E2, E3 and E4, coded by corresponding alleles epsilon 2, epsilon 3 and epsilon 4. These give six different phenotypes. Patients with insulin dependent diabetes (IDDM) have been reported to have increased incidence of E2/2 homozygosity. We studied the frequencies of apoE phenotypes and their association with plasma lipids in 201 diabetic children, aged 2-17 years, and in 216 healthy controls with the same age range. Phenotyping was performed directly from plasma by iso-electric focusing and immunoblotting. Plasma total and high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (C) and triglycerides were determined by routine laboratory methods. Apolipoprotein A1 (apoA1) and B (apoB) were measured by turbidometry. There were no differences in apoE phenotype or allele distributions between the diabetic and control subjects. The frequencies of epsilon 2, epsilon 3, and epsilon 4 in the diabetic and control children were 0.08 versus 0.07, 0.73 versus 0.72 and 0.19 versus 0.21. The difference in apoE2/2 frequencies (2.0 in diabetic and 0.5% in normal children) was not statistically significant. In the diabetic children, there was a distinct relation between apoE phenotype and plasma lipids; presence of apoE2 was associated with the lowest and that of apoE4 with the highest concentrations of total and low density lipoprotein (LDL) C, and apoB. Ratios of HDL-C/LDL-C and apoA1/apoB showed on opposite trend. The influence of apoE polymorphism on plasma lipids was less clear in the controls.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, University Hospital of Tampere, Finland.
authors.forename: M K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Salo
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rantanen
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Huupponen
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lehtimäki
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jokela
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000483:Alleles; D016632:Apolipoprotein A-I / Q000032:analysis; D001055:Apolipoproteins B / Q000097:blood; D001057:Apolipoproteins E / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000097:blood; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL / Q000097:blood; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005819:Genetic Markers; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010641:Phenotype; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D016632:Apolipoprotein A-I; D001055:Apolipoproteins B; D001057:Apolipoproteins E; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL; D005819:Genetic Markers; D014280:Triglycerides