Cor Vasa 2017, 59(3):e235-e239 | DOI: 10.1016/j.crvasa.2016.11.011

The APOE ε2 allele is associated with increased plasma apolipoprotein E levels in patients with coronary artery disease

Leoš Pleva^a,*, Pavlína Kušnierová^b, Pavlína Plevová^c,d, Šárka Hilscherová^c, Michal Karpíšek^e, Jana Zapletalová^f, Lucie Faldynová^c, Petra Kovářová^g, Pavel Kukla^a

^a Kardiovaskulární oddělení, Fakultní nemocnice Ostrava, Ostrava, Česká republika

^b Ústav laboratorní diagnostiky, Oddělení klinické biochemie, Fakultní nemocnice Ostrava, Ostrava, Česká republika

^c Oddělení lékařské genetiky, Fakultní nemocnice Ostrava, Ostrava, Česká republika

^d Katedra biomedicínských oborů, Lékařská fakulta, Ostravská univerzita, Ostrava, Česká republika

^e R&D oddělení, Biovendor, a.s., Brno, Česká republika

^f Ústav lékařské biofyziky, Lékařská fakulta Univerzity Palackého, Olomouc, Česká republika

^g Krevní centrum, Fakultní nemocnice Ostrava, Ostrava, Česká republika

Aims: We sought to evaluate the influence of APOE polymorphisms (ε2-rs7412, ε4-rs429358) on plasma levels of apolipoprotein E in patients with confirmed coronary artery disease.

Methods: A total of 94 patients with coronary artery disease were included in our study. Genotypisation for rs429358 and rs7412 in APOE was performed and plasma levels of apolipoprotein E, lipids, and hs-CRP were measured.

Results: Significantly higher plasma levels of APOE were found in the ε2 carriers compared to the normal ε3/ε3 genotype (40.4 mg/mL vs. 22.9 mg/mL, p = 0.018). There was no difference in APOE levels between the ε4 allele and ε3/ε3 allele carriers.
Significantly higher HDL cholesterol levels (1.55 mmol/L vs. 1.16 mmol/L, p = 0.001) were found in the ε2 carriers, and significantly lower levels of hs-CRP (1.07 mg/L vs. 2.14 mg/L, p = 0,035) in the ε4 carriers compared to the normal ε3/ε3 genotype.

Conclusions: In CAD patients, the APOE ε2 allele is associated with significantly higher plasma levels of APOE and HDL cholesterol, whereas the ε4 allele is associated with significantly lower levels of hs-CRP.

Keywords: APOE polymorphism; Apolipoprotein E; Coronary artery disease

Received: May 29, 2016; Revised: November 23, 2016; Accepted: November 27, 2016; Published: June 1, 2017  Show citation