Polymorphism of the apolipoprotein E gene and risk of myocardial infarction

Abstract

The apolipoprotein E (ApoE) gene polymorphism resulting from nucleotide substitutions in exon 4 was analyzed in Russian and Tatar patients with myocardial infarction (MI) from Bashkortostan. Alleles ε2, ε3, and ε4 were identified by PCR. The genotype frequency distribution proved to be age-dependent in healthy Russians, genotype E2/3 increasing in frequency in subjects over 45. Russians who suffered MI under 45 had lower frequencies of genotype E3/3 (50.00% vs. 75.47% in controls of the same age, P = 0.013, OR = 0.33) and allele ε3 (72.12% vs. 85.85%, P = 0.020, OR = 0.43) and a higher frequency of allele ε4 (22.12% vs. 10.38%, P = 0.030, OR = 2.45). Russians who suffered MI complicated by cardiogenic shock (CS) had a significantly higher frequency of genotype E3/4 and lower frequencies of genotype E3/3 and allele ε3 as compared with MI patients without CS. In Tatars, genotype E4/ 4 occurred at a frequency of 14.29% in patients who suffered MI under 45, and was not detected in healthy subjects of the same age (P = 0.024, OR = 17.85). Thus, the ApoE polymorphism was associated with higher risk of MI in Russians and Tatars under 45.