Association of the Apolipoprotein A-I gene polymorphisms with cardiovascular disease risk factors and atherogenic indices in patients from assam, Northeast India

Abstract

Abstract Cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors, and particularly decreased high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) dyslipidemia are prevalent in Assam, India. This study was undertaken to investigate whether Apolipoprotein A-I (APOA1) gene polymorphisms (G-75A and C+83T) were associated with i) the risk for decreased HDL-C, and ii) other CVD risk factors, viz. serum lipids, atherogenic indices, obesity, and blood pressure (BP). A total of 649 subjects were screened, from which 200 eligible individuals, classified as case group with decreased HDL-C levels (100 subjects) and control group with normal HDL-C levels (100 subjects) were enrolled and genotyped using polymersase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and DNA sequencing. Lipid fractions [HDL-C, total cholesterol (TC), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), very low density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C), triglycerides (TG)] and atherogenic indices [Castelli’s Risk Indices-I and -II (CRI-I and -II), non-HDL-C fraction, atherogenic index of plasma (AIP), atherogenic coefficient (AC)] were estimated. The G-75A and C+83T loci were not associated with decreased HDL-C risk. This was confirmed across different genetic models (dominant, recessive, additive and allelic). Association was also absent with BP and obesity. However, the G-75A locus was associated with LDL-C, whereas the C+83T locus was associated with TG and VLDL-C. Furthermore, these sites had effects on atherogenic indices. The rare A allele at the G-75A locus was associated with adverse CRI-I, CRI-II, non-HDL-C and AC values, while the major C allele at the C+83T locus was associated with adverse AIP values. Thus, the pro-atherogenic G-75A polymorphism and the anti-atherogenic C+83T polymorphism represent important genetic loci that modulate CVD risk factors in subjects from Assam.