Environmental and Genetic Epidemiology Research, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Parkville, Australia.
PLoS One. 2011;6(11):e26679. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0026679. Epub 2011 Nov 1.
APOE plays a well established role in lipid metabolism. Animal model evidence suggests APOE may also be associated with adiposity, but this has not been thoroughly investigated in humans. We measured adiposity (BMI, truncal fat mass, waist circumference), physical activity (PA), cardiorespiratory fitness and APOE genotype (E2, E3, E4) in 292 8-year-old children from the Tasmanian Infant Health Survey (TIHS), an Australian population-based prospective birth cohort. Our aims were to examine the association of APOE with child adiposity, and to examine the interplay between this association and other measured factors. We found that APOE was associated with child lipid profiles. APOE was also associated with child adiposity measures. The association was E4 allele-specific, with adiposity lower in the E4-containing group (BMI: Mean difference -0.90 kg/m²; 95% confidence intervals (CI) -1.51, -0.28; p = 0.004). The association of APOE4 with lower BMI differed by fitness status (difference in effect p = 0.002), and was more evident among the less fit (mean difference -1.78 kg/m²; 95% CI -2.74, -0.83; p<0.001). Additionally, associations between BMI and lipids were only apparent in those of lower fitness who did not carry APOE4. Similar overall findings were observed when truncal fat mass and waist circumference were used as alternative adiposity measures. APOE4 and cardiorespitatory fitness could interact to influence child adiposity. In studies addressing the genetic determinants of childhood obesity, the context of child fitness should also be taken into account.
APOE 在脂质代谢中起着重要作用。动物模型证据表明，APOE 也可能与肥胖有关，但这在人类中尚未得到彻底研究。我们在 292 名 8 岁的塔斯马尼亚婴儿健康调查（TIHS）儿童中测量了肥胖症（BMI、躯干脂肪量、腰围）、体力活动（PA）、心肺功能适应性和 APOE 基因型（E2、E3、E4），这是一项澳大利亚基于人群的前瞻性出生队列研究。我们的目的是研究 APOE 与儿童肥胖症的关系，并研究这种关联与其他测量因素之间的相互作用。我们发现 APOE 与儿童的血脂谱有关。APOE 也与儿童肥胖指标有关。这种关联是 E4 等位基因特异性的，含有 E4 的组肥胖程度较低（BMI：平均差异-0.90kg/m²；95%置信区间（CI）-1.51，-0.28；p=0.004）。APOE4 与 BMI 较低的关联因适应状态而异（效果差异 p=0.002），在适应能力较差的人群中更为明显（平均差异-1.78kg/m²；95%CI-2.74，-0.83；p<0.001）。此外，只有在那些没有携带 APOE4 的适应能力较低的人群中，BMI 与脂质之间的关联才明显。当使用躯干脂肪量和腰围作为替代肥胖指标时，也观察到了类似的总体结果。APOE4 和心肺功能适应性可能相互作用影响儿童肥胖。在研究儿童肥胖的遗传决定因素时，还应考虑儿童适应能力的情况。
