title: Association of the human Y chromosome with cholesterol levels in the general population.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Males are at higher risk of cardiovascular diseases than females. The aim of the study was to test whether the potential of the Y chromosome to affect cardiovascular risk could be attributed to its influence on lipids.
  
  
  RESULTS
  1288 Polish men (1157 subjects from young healthy cohort and 131 individuals from middle-aged hypertensive population) were phenotyped for determinants of cardiovascular risk including BMI, blood pressures, lipids, and testosterone. Each subject was genotyped for the HindIII(+/-) polymorphism within the nonrecombining region of the Y chromosome. Men with the HindIII(-) variant exhibited significantly higher total cholesterol (TC) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL) levels than subjects with the HindIII(+) genotype in both populations. The differences between the genotypes were 0.15 mmol/L (P=0.0107) and 0.45 mmol/L (P=0.0377) in TC and 0.15 mmol/L (P=0.0059) and 0.41 mmol/L (P=0.0432) in LDL among young apparently healthy men and middle-aged hypertensive men, respectively. The HindIII(+) was associated with a significant increase in blood pressure of the middle-aged men. Testosterone serum concentrations correlated positively with HDL-cholesterol levels, and this association was independent of the Y chromosome.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results indicate that a locus/loci on the Y chromosome may influence LDL levels, independent of testosterone levels.
authors.affiliation: BHF Glasgow Cardiovascular Research Centre, Division of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences, University of Glasgow, Western Infirmary, Glasgow G11 6NT, United Kingdom. fjc4a@clinmed.gla.ac.uk
authors.forename: Fadi J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Charchar
authors.forename: Maciej
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tomaszewski
authors.forename: Beata
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lacka
authors.forename: Jaroslaw
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zakrzewski
authors.forename: Ewa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Zukowska-Szczechowska
authors.forename: Wladyslaw
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Grzeszczak
authors.forename: Anna F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Dominiczak
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood*; D041322:Chromosomes, Human, Y / Q000235:genetics*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015247:Deoxyribonuclease HindIII / Q000235:genetics; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics; D005220:Fathers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics; D005820:Genetic Testing / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005828:Genetics, Population / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005838:Genotype; D006579:Heterozygote; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D019655:Quantitative Trait, Heritable
chemical_list: D008055:Lipids; D002784:Cholesterol; D015247:Deoxyribonuclease HindIII