title: Genetic determinants of plasma HDL-cholesterol levels in prepubertal children.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Lipid Research Laboratory, Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Avda. Reyes Católicos, 2, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: López-Simón
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: de Oya
authors.forename: Miguel A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Lasunción
authors.forename: Pía
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Riestra
authors.forename: Mercedes
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Benavente
authors.forename: Iría
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: de Oya
authors.forename: Beatriz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cano
authors.forename: Stefanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schoppen
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Garcés
mesh_terms: 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*
chemical_list: D008076:Cholesterol, HDL