The APOB -516C/T polymorphism has no effect on lipid and apolipoprotein response following changes in dietary fat intake in a healthy population.

Our goal was to determine whether the presence of the -516C/T polymorphism in the APOB gene promoter modifies the lipid response to changes in the amount and quality of dietary fat. We studied 97 young healthy volunteers (70 males and 27 females), 62 homozygotes for the -516C allele (C/C) (47 males and 15 females), 34 heterozygotes for the -516T allele (C/T) (22 males and 12 females) and one male homozygote for the -516T allele (T/T). Subjects consumed three different diets in successive 4-week dietary periods. During the first 28 days, all subjects consumed a saturated fatty acid (SFA)-rich diet (38% fat and 20% SFA). Then, using a randomized crossover design, subjects were assigned a carbohydrate (CHO)-rich diet (30% fat and 55% carbohydrate) or a monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA)-rich diet (38% fat and 22% MUFA). At the end of each dietary period, plasma concentrations of triacylglycerols and of total, LDL, and HDL cholesterol were measured. No differences in plasma lipid and apolipoprotein response were found after changes in dietary fat intake in relation to the -516C/T polymorphism in our study population. In conclusion, our data suggest that the APOB -516C/T polymorphism has no effect on the lipid profile after changes in dietary fat intake in a healthy population.