E POLYMORPHISM; HEART-DISEASE; RISK; RESTENOSIS; GENE; AGE

We sought to evaluate the influence of APOE polymorphisms (epsilon 2-rs7412, epsilon 4-rs429358) on plasma levels of apolipoprotein E in patients with confirmed coronary artery disease. A total of 94 patients with coronary artery disease were included in our study. Genotypisation for rs429358 and rs7412 in APOE was performed and plasma levels of apolipoprotein E, lipids, and hs-CRP were measured. Significantly higher plasma levels of APOE were found in the epsilon 2 carriers compared to the normal epsilon 3/epsilon 3 genotype (40.4 mg/mL vs. 22.9 mg/mL, P = 0.018). There was no difference in APOE levels between the epsilon 4 allele and epsilon 3/epsilon 3 allele carriers. Significantly higher HDL cholesterol levels (1.55 mmol/L vs. 1.16 mmol/L, P = 0.001) were found in the epsilon 2 carriers, and significantly lower levels of hs-CRP (1.07 mg/L vs. 2.14 mg/L, P = 0.035) in the epsilon 4 carriers compared to the normal epsilon 3/epsilon 3 genotype. In CAD patients, the epsilon 2 APOE allele is associated with significantly higher plasma levels of APOE and HDL cholesterol, whereas the epsilon 4 allele is associated with significantly lower levels of hsCRP.