Genetic determinants of plasma HDL-cholesterol levels in prepubertal children.
BACKGROUND
Genetic determinants have been related to variation of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels, but the extension of this association remains controversial. In our study, we analyzed the contribution of several polymorphisms on HDL-C-related genes to variation of plasma HDL-C in prepubertal children.


METHODS
We studied 1269 (641 males and 628 females) 6-8 years old healthy children, who participated in a cross-sectional study examining cardiovascular risk factors in Spain. Common genetic variants in the apolipoprotein AI, apolipoprotein AII, cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP), hepatic lipase, ATP-binding cassette transporter A1, and paraoxonase genes were determined by PCR.


RESULTS
CETP TaqI B2 carrier girls had significantly higher HDL-C levels than B1B1 girls. B2B2 boys had significantly higher (p<0.001) HDL-C than B1B1and B1B2 boys. In linear regression analysis, CETP TaqIB appears as the main predictor of HDL-C plasma levels, accounting for 4.5% and 1.8% of HDL-C variation in girls and boys respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
Our data showed that among the studied polymorphisms only the CETP TaqIB polymorphism contributes to the variation in HDL-C levels in prepubertal children, particularly in girls, but overall these polymorphisms explain a small part of the variation of HDL-C plasma levels at this age.
López-Simón
Laura
L
Lipid Research Laboratory, Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Avda. Reyes Católicos, 2, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
de Oya
Manuel
M
Lasunción
Miguel A
MA
Riestra
Pía
P
Benavente
Mercedes
M
de Oya
Iría
I
Cano
Beatriz
B
Schoppen
Stefanie
S
Garcés
Carmen
C
D002648:Child; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D011627:Puberty / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics*
D008076:Cholesterol, HDL