Variation in 5' Promoter Region of the APOE gene Contributes to Predicting Ischemic Heart Disease (IHD) in the Population at Large: the Copenhagen City Heart Study

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate whether an increased hazard of developing ischemic heart disease (IHD) is associated with any of the three genotypes A 560 T 832 /A 560 T 832 , A 560 T 832 /A 560 G 832 and A 560 T 832 /T 560 T 832, defined by variations in two non-coding SNPs in the 5′ promoter region of the apolipoprotein E ( APOE) gene. These genotypes were selected because they distinguished between high and low levels of HDL-C, TG and/or T-C in our earlier study of multiple samples defined by gender and population. We found a significant increase (p<0.05) in the hazard of IHD in females with the A 560 T 832 /T 560 T 832 genotype that remained significant after fitting the effects of dyslipidemia, other established risk factors, and the structural isoform variations of the ApoE molecule. We discuss why this statistically significant genetic predictor may not be an appropriate screening test for IHD in the Danish population at large.