Influence of Apolipoprotein E on the Lipid Profile and Postprandial Triglyceride Levels in Brazilian Postmenopausal Women With Artery Disease

Abstract

This study confirms the association of risk factors for coronary artery disease (CAD) and the apoE polymorphisms, specifically related to the APOE*4 allele, with coronary disease in postmenopausal women. Significantly altered values of the lipid profile were found in patients when compared with controls, independent of the presence of the APOE*4 allele. However, the controls showed higher high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels and reduced triglyceride (TG) levels, differing significantly from patients. In this case, the study of subgroups, considering the APOE*3/3 and APOE*3/4 genotypes, suggests that the APOE*4 allele is not implicated in the variations of the lipid profile of patients and determined an increase in the production levels of HDL-C and a reduction in TG highly benefiting the control group compared with APOE*3/3 genotype. The metabolic kinetics of TG, although with the same pattern between groups, and the presence of the APOE*4 allele are suggested to be associated with accelerated clearance compared with APOE*3 allele in non-CAD group.

Keywords: Coronary artery disease; apolipoprotein E; cholesterol; postmenopause; postprandial triglycerides.

Figure 1.

Significantly greater areas under the curve in the patients with CAD (1606) compared with non-CAD group (1447; P < .001).

Figure 2.

Areas under the curve in relation to the APOE*3/3 and _/APOE*4 genotypes in postmenopausal women. Thus, the area under the curve is significantly higher in patients with CAD compared with controls both with _/APOE*4 genotypes (area = 1720 versus 1243; P < .001), whereas there was no difference between the groups in respect to the APOE*3/3 genotype (area = 1.518 versus 1.487, respectively; P > .05).