title: Apolipoprotein E polymorphism in a healthy Swedish population: variation of allele frequency with age and relation to serum lipid concentrations.
abstract: We analyzed blood samples from 407 healthy Swedish individuals, 244 men and 163 women, ages 17 to 86 years, for apolipoprotein (apo) E isoforms and serum triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and total cholesterol. Parallel genotyping by means of polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-amplified DNA was performed in 200 subjects. Identical results were obtained by genotyping and phenotyping in 95% of all subjects analyzed. The apo E allelic frequencies were 7.8% for epsilon 2, 71.9% for epsilon 3, and 20.3% for epsilon 4. Compared with other Caucasian populations, the present population had a high relative allelic frequency of epsilon 4. The epsilon 4 frequency decreased with increasing age and was significantly lower in individuals > 60 years of age (14.7%). When controlling for age and sex, there were strong correlations between total serum and LDL cholesterol and the various epsilon alleles. The epsilon 4 and epsilon 3 alleles correlated positively with serum cholesterol and the epsilon 4 allele correlated positively with LDL cholesterol. In contrast, HDL cholesterol and serum triglycerides did not show any correlation to the allele types. Thus, the results demonstrate a considerable age variation of the epsilon allele frequency among healthy Swedes and an influence of apo E alleles on serum and LDL cholesterol concentrations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Chemistry, Karolinska Institute, Huddinge University Hospital, Sweden.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Eggertsen
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tegelman
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ericsson
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Angelin
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Berglund
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000235:genetics*; D000483:Alleles; D001057:Apolipoproteins E / Q000235:genetics*; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000097:blood; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006801:Humans; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic
chemical_list: D001057:Apolipoproteins E; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL; D008055:Lipids