Study of apoB gene signal peptide insertion/deletion polymorphism in a healthy Serbian population: No association with serum lipid levels

Abstract

The apolipoprotein B (apoB) signal peptide polymorphism was studied in unrelated healthy individuals. A total of 232 women and 222 men were analyzed separately. The relative frequencies of Del allele in women and men were 0.42 and 0.37, respectively. More heterozygous individuals were detected in comparison with other populations, using a modified silver staining method on polyacrylamide gel for visualization of Ins and Del alleles. There was no statistically significant difference in mean lipid levels adjusted for age, BMI, smoking habit and blood pressure between the three Ins/Del genotypes in both samples (ANOVA). Therefore, no differences were shown in the genotype frequency distribution throughout the lipid quartiles.