Associations between serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol or apolipoprotein AI levels and common genetic variants of the ABCA1 gene in Japanese school-aged children.

ATP-binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1) plays an important role in apolipoprotein AI (apoAI)-mediated cholesterol efflux from peripheral cells. The mild changes in ABCA1 activity due to genomic variation might be associated with interindividual variations in serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and apoAI levels, or primary hypoalphalipoproteinemia in the general population. In the present study, we analyzed the relationships between 5 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and 2 insertion/deletion polymorphisms in the 5' flanking region and 5 missense polymorphisms of the ABCA1 gene and serum lipid levels in healthy school-aged children. We detected significant associations between the K219R and V771M polymorphisms, and HDL-C or apoAI levels. The present data support the proposition that the K219 allele is an anti-atherogenic allele with increased cholesterol efflux activity. Similarly, the M771 allele appears to be anti-atherogenic, although the frequency of the M771 allele is low.