[Relation of apolipoprotein E polymorphism to clinically diagnosed fatty liver disease].
OBJECTIVE
Apolipoprotein E (Apo E) is important in plasma lipid metabolism and is a component of several plasma lipoprotein-lipid particles. Three major Apo E isoforms are encoded by three common allelic forms, epsilon2, epsilon3, and epsilon4 at the APO E locus. The goal of this study was to examine the association between polymorphisms in the apolipoprotein E gene (APOE) and fatty liver disease.


METHODS
We examined the distribution of APOE alleles from 116 fatty liver patients and 50 controls in Korea.


RESULTS
The frequencies of APOE alleles in fatty liver patients were 6.5% in epsilon2, 85.7% in epsilon3 and 7.8% in epsilon4. The corresponding frequencies in control subjects were 4.0% in epsilon2, 91.0% in epsilon3 and 5.0% in epsilon4. There were no significant differences in the distribution of APOE genotypes between fatty liver patients and controls. APOE epsilon2 and epsilon4 allele frequencies in fatty liver patients were more than those in controls. However, there was no significant differences in APOE epsilon2 and epsilon4 allele frequencies.


CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that APOE alleles seem not to be directly associated with the pathogenesis of fatty liver disease.
Lee
Dong-Min
DM
Department of Internal Medicine, Chonbuk National University College of Medicine, Chonju, Korea. daeghonkim@moak.chonbuk.ac.kr
Lee
Seung-Ok
SO
Mun
Byoung-Sik
BS
Ahn
Heok-Soo
HS
Park
Hye-Young
HY
Lee
Hye-Soo
HS
Kim
Dae-Ghon
DG
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001057:Apolipoproteins E / Q000235:genetics*; D005234:Fatty Liver / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic
D001057:Apolipoproteins E