title: Apolipoprotein E polymorphism and its association with serum lipid levels in Brazilian children.
abstract: The influence of apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotypes on plasma lipid levels was determined in 414 Brazilian healthy children of mixed ethnicity, age 5 to 15 years (mean 8.9+/-2.9). The APOE*3 allele was the most frequent (77%), followed by APOE*4 (17%) and APOE*2 (6%). The pattern of lipid differences among genotypes was similar in both boys and girls. We did not detect an increase in cholesterol levels with the presence of the APOE*4 allele. Because a growing body of evidence suggests that the effect of *4 depends on its interaction with diet, the frequency of *4 might be more variable in children than in adults as well as among populations. Children carrying a *2 allele had lower total cholesterol (TC) and LDL-cholesterol levels (138.47+/-24.32 and 77.72+/-19.42, respectively) compared with *3/*3 children (158.33+/-25.28 and 97.05+/-21.82, respectively). Mean TC/HDLC ratio was also lower in children with the APOE*2 allele (3.27+/-0.66 versus 3.64+/-0.76). In this highly admixed population sample, the *2 anti-atherogenic lipid pattern is already detected in children.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Genética, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Caixa Postal 15053, 91501-970 Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Everaldo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: De França
authors.forename: João Guilherme Bezerra
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Alves
authors.forename: Mara H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Hutz
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000483:Alleles; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001057:Apolipoproteins E / Q000235:genetics*; D001938:Brazil; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic
chemical_list: D001057:Apolipoproteins E; D008055:Lipids