Association of gender, ABCA1 gene polymorphisms and lipid profile in Greek young nurses.
OBJECTIVE
One of the important proteins involved in lipid metabolism is the ATP-binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1) encoding by ABCA1 gene. In this study we evaluated the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of ABCA1 gene. We analyzed SNPs in chromosome 9 such as rs2230806 (R219K) in the position 107620867, rs2230808 (R1587K) in the position 106602625 and rs4149313 (I883M) in the position 106626574 according to gender and lipid profile of Greek nurses.


METHODS
The study population consisted of 447 (87 men) unrelated nurses who were genotyped for ABCA1 gene polymorphisms. Additionally, lipid profile [total cholesterol, triglycerides, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and apolipoprotein A1] was evaluated.


RESULTS
The distribution of all three studied ABCA1 gene polymorphisms did not differ according to gender. However, only R219K genotype distribution bared borderline statistical significance (p = 0.08) between the two studied groups. Moreover, allele frequencies of R219K, R1587K and I88M polymorphisms did not differ according to gender. In general, blood lipid levels did not seem to vary according to ABCA1 gene polymorphisms, when testing all subjects or when testing only men or only women. However, a significant difference of LDL-C distribution was detected in all subjects according to R1587K genotype, indicating lower LDL-C levels with KK polymorphism (p = 0.0025). The above difference was solely detected on female population (p = 0.0053).


CONCLUSIONS
The ABCA1 gene polymorphisms frequency, distribution and lipid profile did not differ according to gender. However, in the female population the KK genotype of R1587K gene indicated lower LDL-C levels. Further studies, involving a higher number of individuals, are required to clarify genes and gender contribution.
Molecular Immunology Laboratory, Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center Athens, Athens, Greece. 2Thriassio General Hospital, Magoula, Attica, Greece.
Vana
V
Kolovou
Apostolia
A
Marvaki
Agathi
A
Karakosta
Georgios
G
Vasilopoulos
Antonia
A
Kalogiani
Sophie
S
Mavrogeni
Dimitrios
D
Degiannis
Christina
C
Marvaki
Genovefa
G
Kolovou
D064286:ATP Binding Cassette Transporter 1; D018528:ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters / Q000235:genetics*; D000328:Adult; D004587:Electrophoresis, Agar Gel; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency / Q000235:genetics; D056726:Genetic Association Studies; D006115:Greece; D006801:Humans; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D009726:Nurses; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000235:genetics*; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D055815:Young Adult
C577836:ABCA1 protein, human; D064286:ATP Binding Cassette Transporter 1; D018528:ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters; D008055:Lipids