Abstract

Background: The recently discovered apolipoprotein A5 (AP0A5) gene has been shown to be important in determining plasma triglyceride (TG) levels, a major cardiovascular disease risk factor. We searched for possible associations of the AP0A5 gene polymorphisms -1131T>C with the levels of TG in an Iranian population. Methods: A total of 128 Iranians (73 cases with coronary heart disease CHD and 55 normal subjects) were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) for this single nucleotide polymorphism. Results: Allele frequencies observed in our population were 0.152 for the C allele and 0.848 for the T allele, which are similar to Caucasian populations (P=0.355). Conclusions: As expected, we observed a strong association between the AP0A5 -1131C allele and elevated plasma TO levels. Total cholesterol heterozygotes and CC homozygotes have significantly higher TO levels (2.76 +/- 1.30 mmol/L) than 7 homozygous individuals in the CHD group (2.05 +/- 1.15 mmol/L, P=0.027). This trend was also present in the normal subjects (P=0.014).