Apolipoprotein E polymorphism in Vietnamese children and its relationship to plasma lipid and lipoprotein levels.

We investigated the frequency of apolipoprotein E (apoE) polymorphism and the effect of apoE polymorphism on plasma lipid and lipoprotein levels under different nutritional statuses in Vietnamese children living in urban and rural areas. Three hundred and forty-eight girls (aged 7 to 9 years) were randomly selected from urban and rural areas in southern Vietnam. Their apoE genotypes were analyzed by an Invader assay, and the plasma lipid and lipoprotein levels were determined by enzymatic methods using fasting blood samples. Dietary intake and anthropometry of children were also measured. The frequency of the allele epsilon 2 and epsilon 4 of the Vietnamese girls was 0.09 and 0.12, respectively. The levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and total cholesterol (TC) of the allele epsilon 2 carriers were significantly lower than those of the allele epsilon 3 carriers (P < .0001) in both the urban and rural groups. In contrast, the allele epsilon 4 carriers tended to show a higher LDL-C level than the allele epsilon 3 carriers, especially in subjects with a higher fat intake in urban area. The allele epsilon 2 carriers had the same high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and triglyceride (TG) level as the allele epsilon 3 carriers, but the allele epsilon 4 carriers with a higher fat intake living in urban areas had lower HDL-C and higher TG level than allele epsilon 3 carriers. In conclusion, our findings showed that the LDL-C lowering effect of allele epsilon 2 was independent of the nutritional status, while allele epsilon 4 tended to lower HDL-C and increase the LDL-C level in a high-fat intake population. Therefore, the plasma lipid profiles of apoE epsilon 4 carriers may be a risk factor of atherogenesis in Vietnamese, who tend to have a westernized eating habit.