Polimorfismo genético de la apolipoproteína E en un grupo de escolares del centro-oriente colombiano: comparación con las concentraciones plasmáticas de lípidos y apolipoproteínas

introduction. research in laboratories around the world has documented the contribution of the e apolipoprotein alleles to structural variations of lipids and apolipoproteins. objective. the gene frequencies of the e apolipoprotein alleles were compared with the lipid and apolipoprotein levels in school age children. materials and methods. six hundred and ninety one 5 to 15 years old school age children from the colombian departments of cundinamarca, boyacá, meta, santander and norte de santander, were evaluated.the genotypes of the e apolipoprotein were identified by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism. plasma levels for the following 5 lipids and lipoproteins were assayed: total cholesterol, hdl (high density lipoprotein) cholesterol, ldl (low density lipoprotein) cholesterol, triglycerides, vldl (very low density lipoprotein) cholesterol, a-i apolipoprotein and b-100 apolipoprotein. results. alleles ε2, ε3 and ε4 were found in frequencies of 0.04, 0.86 and 0.08, respectively. the e4 group (e4/3-e4/4), in contrast with the e2 group (e3/2-e2/2), presented highest plasma concentrations of total cholesterol, ldl cholesterol and b-100 apolipoprotein (p=0.014, 0.001 and 0.000, respectively). when the e3/3 group was compared with e2, the same result was obtained (p=0.015, 0.002 and 0.002, respectively). the influence of the e apolipoprotein polymorphism appeared greater in female children than male. conclusions. the e4 allele was associated with higher levels of total cholesterol, ldl cholesterol and b-100 apolipoprotein and indicates the necessity of additional research into the interactions between polymorphism e apolipoprotein and other genes, life styles, risk factors and potential contribution to cardiovascular diseases.