Skip to main content
Download PDF

Association between apolipoprotein E gene polymorphism and the risk of coronary artery disease in Hakka postmenopausal women in southern China

Lipids in Health and Disease volume 19, Article number: 139 (2020) Cite this article

Abstract

Background

Apolipoprotein E (APOE) is involved in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and conveys a higher risk of coronary artery disease (CAD). The aim of the present study was to investigate the possible association between APOE gene polymorphism and the risk of CAD in postmenopausal Hakka women in southern China.

Methods

The APOE genotypes of 653 CAD patients and 646 control participants were determined by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and hybridization to a Sinochip.

Results

The prevalence of each APOE genotype differed between CAD patients and control participants (P = 0.011). The E3/E3 genotype was the most common and the E2/E2 genotype was the least common in the study sample. Moreover, the presence of ε4 allele was associated with higher serum concentrations of triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC) and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C), and lower concentration of high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C). Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that participants with ε4 allele have a significantly higher risk of CAD after adjustment for the presence of diabetes mellitus and hypertension, and their serum uric acid, TC, and LDL-C concentrations (adjusted odds ratio (OR) 1.50, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.10–2.05, P = 0.010).

Conclusions

The present results suggest that APOE polymorphism is associated with a higher risk of CAD in postmenopausal Hakka women in southern China.

Background

Coronary artery disease (CAD) remains one of the most complex diseases with a high morbidity and mortality worldwide [1, 2]. In spite of significant improvements in the clinical management of CAD, the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, which underlies the CAD, remains to be fully characterized. It is well established that both genetic and environmental risk factors are involved in the development of CAD [3, 4]. Factors including advanced age, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, smoking, and poor diet have been shown to increase the risk of CAD [5, 6]. In particular, dyslipidemia is a significant contributor for the progression of atherosclerotic lesions, and this may result from variations of or epigenetic modifications to genes involved in lipid metabolism [7,8,9]. Therefore, there has been a great deal of interest in the effect of genetic variants on the risk of CAD.

Apolipoprotein E (APOE) is a glycoprotein that consists of 299 amino acids and is encoded by a gene located on chromosome 19 at position q13.2 [10]. There are three common alleles at the APOE locus, namely ε2, ε3, and ε4, which yield six possible genotypes: E2/E2, E2/E3, E3/E3, E3/E4, E4/E4, and E2/E4 [11]. The polymorphisms of APOE have been reported to be associated with the regulation and metabolism of lipids [12]. The most common isoform is E3, which facilitates the scavenging of certain lipoproteins from the circulation, whereas the E2 and E4 isoforms have different affinities for the low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor, thereby affecting circulating lipid concentrations [13].

In the past few decades, the crucial role of APOE in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis has been recognized [14, 15]. More recently, several studies have investigated the relationships between APOE polymorphisms and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease [16,17,18]. However, the identified associations between APOE polymorphisms and CAD were highly inconsistent [19]. Furthermore, no information has been published regarding the relationship between APOE polymorphism and the risk of CAD in the Hakka ethnic group in China. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the possible association between APOE gene polymorphism and the risk of CAD in postmenopausal Hakka women in southern China.

Methods

Study participants

A total of 1299 postmenopausal women were recruited from the inpatient service of Meizhou People’s Hospital (Huangtang Hospital) between May 2016 and August 2018 (653 women with confirmed CAD and 646 women without CAD, who acted as controls). The enrolled women were aged over 50 years (66.87 ± 10.09 years, n = 1299) and self-reported to have been in menopause for at least 12 months. CAD was defined as stenosis > 50% in at least one segment of a major coronary artery (the left main coronary trunk, anterior descending branch, left circumflex artery and/or right coronary artery). The control participants did not have lumen stenosis on coronary angiography or evidence of cardiovascular disease on physical examination. Coronary angiograms were interpreted by two experienced cardiologists who did not have knowledge of the patients’ clinical history. Hypertension was defined as a mean of 3 independent measures of blood pressure ≥ 140/90 mmHg or currently receiving hypertension treatment. Diabetes mellitus was defined as a fasting glucose levels ≥126 mg/dL, or non-fasting glucose levels ≥200 mg/dL, or current treatment with oral hypoglycemic agents or insulin. Hyperhomocysteinemia was defined as a serum homocysteine concentration > 15 μmol/L. Hyperuricemia was defined as uric acid (UA) ≥ 420 mmol/L in men or ≥ 360 mmol/L in women. Hyperlipidemia was defined as level of total cholesterol (TC) > 5.5 mmol/L, triglycerides (TG) > 1.7 mmol/L, LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) > 3.4 mmol/L, high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) < 1.0 mmol/L. The exclusion criteria were congenital or valvular heart disease, severe renal or hepatic disease, thyroid dysfunction, autoimmune disease, or malignant disease, or use of lipid-controlling drugs.

The study was approved by the Institutional Review Boards at Meizhou People’s Hospital (Huangtang Hospital) and conducted in compliance with the ethical guidelines of the 1975 Declaration of Helsinki. Signed consent form was obtained from each participant before their enrollment in the study. All the participants lived in the same region and were confirmed to be of Hakka origin by consideration of the ethnic origin of their parents and grandparents.

DNA extraction and genotyping

A 4-mL venous blood sample was drawn from each participant into an EDTA sample tube, then extraction of genomic DNA from peripheral blood mononuclear cells was performed using a QIAamp DNA blood kit (Qiagen, Hilden, Germany). The quality and quantity of the DNA were evaluated using a Nano-Drop 2000™ spectrophotometer (ThermoFisher Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA). Genotyping of the APOE gene single nucleotide polymorphisms (rs429358 and rs7412) were performed with a commercially available kit (Zhuhai Sinochips Bioscience Co., Ltd., Guangdong, China). The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) parameters were as follows: 2 min at 50 °C; 15 min at 95 °C; 45 cycles of denaturation at 94 °C for 30 s; and annealing and extension at 65 °C for 45 s. After PCR amplification, the PCR products were subsequently added to the gene chip (APOE genotype test kit) for hybridization. Finally, a gene chip scanner was used to interpret the data. Five percent of the samples were also selected randomly for sequencing to confirm the results of the genotyping and the concordance rate was 100%.

Biochemical measurements

Fasting blood samples were drawn from all participants and centrifuged at 3000×g for 10 min, and aliquots were stored at − 80 °C before analysis. Serum concentrations of TG, TC, LDL-C, HDL-C, and UA were measured strictly according to the standard methods in the hospital clinic laboratory.

Statistical analysis

All statistical analysis were performed using SPSS version 19.0 (IBM Inc., Armonk, NY, USA). Continuous variables were expressed as means ± standard deviations and were analyzed with the Student’s t-test or ANOVA. Categorical variables were expressed as numbers and percentages and were analyzed with the Chi-square test. Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium in the CAD patients and controls was evaluated by Chi-square test. Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated to express the relative risk of disease, using SPSS logistic regression. P < 0.05 was considered to represent statistical significance.

Results

Baseline clinical characteristics of the study participants

The baseline clinical characteristics of all the postmenopausal participants in the study are summarized in Table 1. The study sample consisted of 1299 postmenopausal women (mean age 68.16 ± 9.42 years for the 653 angiographically confirmed CAD patients and 65.57 ± 10.57 years for the 646 control participants). Notably, the age, blood pressure, and the prevalences of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hyperhomocysteinemia, hyperlipidemia, and hyperuricemia were significant differences between the two groups (all P < 0.05). The CAD patients had significantly higher serum concentrations of UA, TC, and LDL-C than the control participants (all P < 0.05), but there were no significant differences in the TG and HDL-C concentrations between the two groups (all P > 0.05).

Table 1 Baseline clinical characteristics of the study participants
Full size table

The distributions of genotypes and alleles of the APOE gene in the CAD patients and control participants

The distributions of genotypes and alleles of the APOE gene in the CAD patients and control participants are summarized in Table 2. The genotype distributions in both the CAD patients and control participants were consistent with Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (χ2 = 1.79, P = 0.77 and χ2 = 2.06, P = 0.73, respectively). The distributions of APOE genotypes and alleles significantly differed between the two groups (P = 0.011 and P = 0.003, respectively). The E3/E3 genotype was the most common in both groups (67.69% of CAD patients and 69.35% of control participants), followed by the E3/E4 genotype (19.14% of CAD patients and 14.24% of control participants), and the E2/E3 genotype (10.11% of CAD patients and 14.09% of control participants).

Table 2 The distributions of genotypes and alleles of the APOE gene in the CAD patients and control participants
Full size table

The participants were then allocated to three subgroups: ε2 carriers, which included individuals with the E2/E2 or E2/E3 genotypes, ε3 carriers, which included individuals with the E3/E3 genotype, and ε4 carriers, which included individuals with the E3/E4 or E4/E4 genotypes. Allele ε3 was the most common (82.31% of CAD patients and 83.51% of control participants), followed by allele ε4 (11.72% of CAD patients and 8.46% of control participants), and allele ε2 (5.97% of CAD patients and 8.13% of control participants). The allele frequency of ε4 was significantly higher in CAD patients than in the control participants (P = 0.003).

Relationships between serum lipid profile and APOE allele in CAD patients and control participants

The relationships between allelic carrier status (ε2, ε3, and ε4 groups) and serum lipid profile are summarized in Table 3. The APOE ε2 and ε4 alleles were considered to play opposing roles in lipid metabolism and the incidence of CAD, therefore, participants with the E2/E4 genotype (n = 16) were excluded. As expected, the serum TG, TC, HDL-C, and LDL-C concentrations significantly differed among the ε2, ε3, and ε4 groups of CAD patients. Specifically, the ε4 carriers had significantly higher concentrations of TG, TC, and LDL-C, and lower concentration of HDL-C than the other groups, while the ε2 carriers showed the opposite results. Additionally, the TC and LDL-C concentrations of the control participants showed similar trends to those in the CAD group. However, there were no significant impacts of the APOE polymorphism on the TG and HDL-C concentrations in the control participants.

Table 3 Relationships between serum lipid profile and APOE allele in CAD patients and control participants
Full size table

Logistic regression analysis of the risk of CAD in the Hakka population

Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine independent predictors for CAD (Table 4). On univariate regression analysis, there were significantly higher risks of CAD in the presence of the ε4 allele, diabetes mellitus, hypertension and high UA, TC, and LDL-C concentrations (all P < 0.05). Further multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that participants with ε4 allele had a significantly higher risk of CAD after adjustment for the established risk factors (adjusted OR 1.50, 95% CI 1.10–2.05, P = 0.010).

Table 4 Logistic regression analysis of the risk of CAD in the Hakka population
Full size table

Discussion

CAD is a multifactorial disorder with high incidences of disability and mortality around the world [2]. The prevalence of CAD is rising dramatically in China, alongside changes in lifestyle and an increase in lifespan [20]. CAD is considered to result from an interaction between genetic and environmental factors [4]. Several studies have suggested that APOE variants increased the risk of developing CAD [21, 22]. It is noted that this was the first to identify an association between APOE polymorphisms and the risk of CAD in postmenopausal Hakka women in southern China. The present study revealed that plasma lipid concentrations were significantly affected by genetic variations at the APOE gene locus. Significantly higher serum TG, TC, and LDL-C concentrations and significantly lower serum HDL-C concentration were found in CAD patients than in control participants. Furthermore, a statistically significant association between the ε4 allele and a higher risk of CAD has also been identified in the study sample. This association remained significant when adjusted for several important cardiovascular risk factors, such as the presence of diabetes mellitus or hypertension and the serum UA and TC concentrations, in multiple logistic regression analysis.

APOE is an important plasma protein and its synthesis, secretion and metabolism are mainly completed in the liver [12]. The APOE gene is polymorphic, with three possible alleles: ε2, ε3, and ε4, which encode the isoforms E2, E3, and E4. The prevalences of the APOE genotypes vary widely across geographical areas and ethnic groups [23]. In most populations, E3/E3 is the most prevalent genotype and ε3 is the commonest allele. ε4 is relatively common in northern Europeans and African Americans, while Asians have low prevalences of ε2 and ε4 [14, 24]. The present study have explored the prevalences of APOE genotypes and alleles in postmenopausal CAD patients and controls. In the CAD patients, the prevalences of the E2/E2, E2/E3, E3/E3, E3/E4, E2/E4 and E4/E4 genotypes were 0.46, 10.11, 67.69, 19.14, 0.92, and 1.68%, respectively, and in the control participants they were 0.31, 14.09, 69.35, 14.24, 1.55, and 0.46%, respectively. Thus, the E3/E3 genotype was the most common and the E2/E2 genotype was the least common in this sample, which is in broad agreement with those for other populations [13, 25].

The influence of APOE polymorphisms on CAD can be largely attributed to its effects on blood lipid profile, as shown in a previous large prospective study [26]. The APOE gene is known to be a significant determinant of the human lipid profile. The ε3 allele of APOE promotes the clearance of TG-rich lipoproteins, and therefore helps prevent atherosclerosis [11]. However, a previous study showed that the ε4 allele was relevant to the elevated serum TC and LDL-C concentrations, and consequently greater risks of atherosclerosis and ischemic heart disease [15]. A statistically significant association between the APOE allele and serum lipid concentrations have been confirmed in the present study. High serum TG, TC, and LDL-C concentrations were found in postmenopausal carriers of the ε4 allele in the Hakka population. This connection between the ε4 allele and cholesterol may be explained by stronger binding of lipid by E4, resulting from a single amino acid substitution (Cys112Arg) in APOE [27].

The associations between polymorphisms in the APOE gene and CAD identified in observational studies are still being debated. However, previous studies have suggested that the ε4 allele was strongly associated with higher cardiovascular risk in several ethnic groups [15, 28]. Indeed, it has been reported that the ε4 allele may serve as an independent genetic predictor of the severity of CAD in male Chinese patients [29]. In addition, another study demonstrated that diabetic carriers of the APOE ε4 allele had an increased risk of CAD in western Iran [30]. In this study, logistic regression analysis showed that the APOE ε4 allele independently increased the risk of CAD in postmenopausal women, which were consistent with the above findings.

However, other studies have found conflicting results. Erkki et al. showed that the APOE ε4 allele was significantly associated with a higher risk of coronary atherosclerosis in men in early middle age, but not in older men [31]. On the contrary, Letonja et al. did not find such a relationship between the APOE phenotype and CAD risk in Caucasian women younger than 65 years [32]. Another study conducted in African-Americans and Caucasians failed to show a correlation between the APOE polymorphism and the risk of developing CAD, after adjustment for several conventional risk factors, such as age, sex, and the TG and HDL-C concentrations [33]. The reasons for these inconsistent results remain to be determined. However, it was speculated that these discrepancies may be explained by differences in sample size, patient selection, age, sex, lifestyle, and ethnicity, as well as by genotype-phenotype relationships and gene-environment interactions [34,35,36].

Study strengths and limitations

There are several strengths of this study. It was the first time to investigate the potential association between APOE gene polymorphism and the presence of CAD in Hakka postmenopausal women in southern China. The study included the clinical characteristics, lipid profiles and APOE gene polymorphism indicators into the analysis to exclude the influence of related confounding factors on the results. Some potential limitations of this study also should be noted. First, selection bias may have existed, because the recruited control participants came from a population attending hospital. Second, the sample size of this study was insufficient, which might have under-powered the study. Thus, further studies with larger samples are warranted to confirm these findings. Third, because the study was conducted only in Hakka Chinese people, the findings cannot be readily generalized to other populations.

Conclusions

In conclusion, the present findings suggest that APOE is a susceptibility locus for CAD in postmenopausal Hakka women in southern China. The APOE ε4 allele was significantly associated with high serum lipid concentrations and was an independent risk factor for CAD, and this association remained significant after adjustment for multiple potential confounding factors. Therefore, APOE genotyping may be useful to identify individuals at high risk of CAD and provide guidance for the institution of individualized preventive strategies and therapies for patients.

Availability of data and materials

All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article.

Abbreviations

APOE :

Apolipoprotein E

CAD:

Coronary artery disease

CI:

Confidence intervals

DBP:

Diastolic blood pressure

HDL-C:

High-density lipoprotein cholesterol

LDL:

Low-density lipoprotein

LDL-C:

LDL cholesterol

OR:

Odds ratio

PCR:

Polymerase chain reaction

SBP:

Systolic blood pressure

TG:

Triglycerides

TC:

Total cholesterol

UA:

Uric acid

References

  1. Malakar AK, Choudhury D, Halder B, Paul P, Uddin A, Chakraborty S. A review on coronary artery disease, its risk factors, and therapeutics. J Cell Physiol. 2019;234:16812–23.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Jing J, Su L, Zeng Y, Tang X, Wei J, Wang L, Zhou L. Variants in 9p21 predicts severity of coronary artery disease in a Chinese Han population. Ann Hum Genet. 2016;80:274–81.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Girelli D, Martinelli N, Peyvandi F, Olivieri O. Genetic architecture of coronary artery disease in the genome-wide era: implications for the emerging "golden dozen" loci. Semin Thromb Hemost. 2009;35:671–82.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Yusuf S, Hawken S, Ounpuu S, Dans T, Avezum A, Lanas F, et al. Effect of potentially modifiable risk factors associated with myocardial infarction in 52 countries (the INTERHEART study): case-control study. Lancet. 2004;364:937–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Ahmed E, El-Menyar A. South Asian ethnicity and cardiovascular risk: the known, the unknown, and the paradox. Angiology. 2015;66:405–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Benjamin EJ, Muntner P, Alonso A, Bittencourt MS, Callaway CW, Carson AP, et al. Heart disease and stroke Statistics-2019 update: a report from the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2019;139:e56–e528.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Pol T, Held C, Westerbergh J, Lindback J, Alexander JH, Alings M, et al. Dyslipidemia and Risk of Cardiovascular Events in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation Treated With Oral Anticoagulation Therapy: Insights From the ARISTOTLE (Apixaban for Reduction in Stroke and Other Thromboembolic Events in Atrial Fibrillation) Trial. J Am Heart Assoc. 2018;7:e007444.

  8. Stein R, Ferrari F, Scolari F. Genetics, dyslipidemia, and cardiovascular disease: new insights. Curr Cardiol Rep. 2019;21:68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Dittrich J, Beutner F, Teren A, Thiery J, Burkhardt R, Scholz M, et al. Plasma levels of apolipoproteins C-III, A-IV, and E are independently associated with stable atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Atherosclerosis. 2019;281:17–24.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Zannis VI. Genetic polymorphism in human apolipoprotein E. Methods Enzymol. 1986;128:823–51.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Mahley RW, Rall SC Jr. Apolipoprotein E: far more than a lipid transport protein. Annu Rev Genomics Hum Genet. 2000;1:507–37.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Bennet AM, Di Angelantonio E, Ye Z, Wensley F, Dahlin A, Ahlbom A, et al. Association of apolipoprotein E genotypes with lipid levels and coronary risk. JAMA. 2007;298:1300–11.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Yousuf FA, Iqbal MP. Review: Apolipoprotein E (Apo E) gene polymorphism and coronary heart disease in Asian populations. Pak J Pharm Sci. 2015;28:1439–44.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Anuurad E, Rubin J, Lu G, Pearson TA, Holleran S, Ramakrishnan R, et al. Protective effect of apolipoprotein E2 on coronary artery disease in African Americans is mediated through lipoprotein cholesterol. J Lipid Res. 2006;47:2475–81.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Eichner JE, Dunn ST, Perveen G, Thompson DM, Stewart KE, Stroehla BC. Apolipoprotein E polymorphism and cardiovascular disease: a HuGE review. Am J Epidemiol. 2002;155:487–95.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Broce IJ, Tan C, Fan C, Jansen I, Savage JE, Witoelar A, et al. Dissecting the genetic relationship between cardiovascular risk factors and Alzheimer's disease. Acta Neuropathol. 2019;137:209–26.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Vaisi-Raygani A, Kharrazi H, Rahimi Z, Pourmotabbed T. Frequencies of apolipoprotein E polymorphism in a healthy Kurdish population from Kermanshah, Iran. Hum Biol. 2007;79:579–87.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Karahan Z, Ugurlu M, Ucaman B, Ulug AV, Kaya I, Cevik K, et al. Relation between Apolipoprotein E gene polymorphism and severity of coronary artery disease in acute myocardial infarction. Cardiol Res Pract. 2015;2015:363458.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Larifla L, Armand C, Bangou J, Blanchet-Deverly A, Numeric P, Fonteau C, et al. Association of APOE gene polymorphism with lipid profile and coronary artery disease in afro-Caribbeans. PLoS One. 2017;12:e0181620.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Liu R, Lyu S, Zhao G, Zheng W, Wang X, Zhao X, et al. Comparison of the performance of the CRUSADE, ACUITY-HORIZONS, and ACTION bleeding scores in ACS patients undergoing PCI: insights from a cohort of 4939 patients in China. J Geriatr Cardiol. 2017;14:93–9.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  21. Gungor Z, Anuurad E, Enkhmaa B, Zhang W, Kim K, Berglund L. Apo E4 and lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 synergistically increase cardiovascular risk. Atherosclerosis. 2012;223:230–4.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Shakhtshneider EV, Ragino YI, Chernjavski AM, Kulikov IV, Ivanova MV, Voevoda MI. Apolipoprotein E gene polymorphism in men with coronary atherosclerosis in Siberia. Bull Exp Biol Med. 2011;150:355–8.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Farrer LA, Cupples LA, Haines JL, Hyman B, Kukull WA, Mayeux R, et al. Effects of age, sex, and ethnicity on the association between apolipoprotein E genotype and Alzheimer disease. A meta-analysis. APOE and Alzheimer disease Meta analysis consortium. JAMA. 1997;278:1349–56.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Howard BV, Gidding SS, Liu K. Association of apolipoprotein E phenotype with plasma lipoproteins in African-American and white young adults. The CARDIA study. Coronary artery risk development in young adults. Am J Epidemiol. 1998;148:859–68.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Yin Y, Sun Q, Zhang B, Hu A, Liu H, Wang Q, et al. Association between apolipoprotein E gene polymorphism and the risk of coronary artery disease in Chinese population: evidence from a meta-analysis of 40 studies. PLoS One. 2013;8:e66924.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Ward H, Mitrou PN, Bowman R, Luben R, Wareham NJ, Khaw KT, et al. APOE genotype, lipids, and coronary heart disease risk: a prospective population study. Arch Intern Med. 2009;169:1424–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Tikkanen MJ, Huttunen JK, Ehnholm C, Pietinen P. Apolipoprotein E4 homozygosity predisposes to serum cholesterol elevation during high fat diet. Arteriosclerosis. 1990;10:285–8.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Afroze D, Yousuf A, Tramboo NA, Shah ZA, Ahmad A. ApoE gene polymorphism and its relationship with coronary artery disease in ethnic Kashmiri population. Clin Exp Med. 2016;16:551–6.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Li S, Yang J, Li L, Wang H. Apolipoprotein E polymorphism and the characteristics of diseased vessels in male Chinese patients with angiographic coronary artery disease: a case-case study. Clin Cardiol. 2010;33:E30–4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Vaisi-Raygani A, Rahimi Z, Nomani H, Tavilani H, Pourmotabbed T. The presence of apolipoprotein epsilon4 and epsilon2 alleles augments the risk of coronary artery disease in type 2 diabetic patients. Clin Biochem. 2007;40:1150–6.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Ilveskoski E, Perola M, Lehtimaki T, Laippala P, Savolainen V, Pajarinen J, et al. Age-dependent association of apolipoprotein E genotype with coronary and aortic atherosclerosis in middle-aged men: an autopsy study. Circulation. 1999;100:608–13.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Letonja M, Guzic-Salobir B, Peterlin B, Petrovic D. Apolipoprotein E gene polymorphism effects triglycerides but not CAD risk in Caucasian women younger than 65 years. Ann Genet. 2004;47:147–53.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Anuurad E, Yamasaki M, Shachter N, Pearson TA, Berglund L. ApoE and ApoC-I polymorphisms: association of genotype with cardiovascular disease phenotype in African Americans. J Lipid Res. 2009;50:1472–8.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Hegele RA. Plasma lipoproteins: genetic influences and clinical implications. Nat Rev Genet. 2009;10:109–21.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Corella D, Portoles O, Arriola L, Chirlaque MD, Barrricarte A, Frances F, et al. Saturated fat intake and alcohol consumption modulate the association between the APOE polymorphism and risk of future coronary heart disease: a nested case-control study in the Spanish EPIC cohort. J Nutr Biochem. 2011;22:487–94.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  36. Grammer TB, Hoffmann MM, Scharnagl H, Kleber ME, Silbernagel G, Pilz S, et al. Smoking, apolipoprotein E genotypes, and mortality (the Ludwigshafen RIsk and cardiovascular health study). Eur Heart J. 2013;34:1298–305.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Not applicable.

Funding

This work was supported by the Medical Scientific Research Foundation of Guangdong Province (grant number A2017404); Science and Technology Program of Meizhou (grant number 2018B024); Key Scientific and Technological Project of Meizhou People’s Hospital (grant number MPHKSTP-20180101); Key Scientific and Technological Project of Meizhou People’s Hospital (grant number MPHKSTP-20170102).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinical Core Laboratory, Meizhou People’s Hospital (Huangtang Hospital), Meizhou Hospital Affiliated to Sun Yat-sen University, Meizhou, 514031, People’s Republic of China

    Jingyuan Hou, Qiaoting Deng, Xuemin Guo & Xunwei Deng

  2. Guangdong Provincial Engineering and Technology Research Center for Molecular Diagnostics of Cardiovascular Diseases, Meizhou, 514031, People’s Republic of China

    Jingyuan Hou, Qiaoting Deng, Xuemin Guo, Xunwei Deng, Wei Zhong & Zhixiong Zhong

  3. Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Precision Medicine and Clinical Translational Research of Hakka Population, Meizhou, 514031, People’s Republic of China

    Jingyuan Hou, Qiaoting Deng, Xuemin Guo, Xunwei Deng, Wei Zhong & Zhixiong Zhong

  4. Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Meizhou People’s Hospital (Huangtang Hospital), Meizhou Hospital Affiliated to Sun Yat-sen University, No. 63 Huangtang Road, Meijiang District, Meizhou, 514031, People’s Republic of China

    Wei Zhong & Zhixiong Zhong

Authors
  1. Jingyuan Hou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Qiaoting Deng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Xuemin Guo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Xunwei Deng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Wei Zhong
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Zhixiong Zhong
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

Zhixiong Zhong conceived and designed the experiments; Xunwei Deng and Wei Zhong recruited subjects and collected clinical data. Xunwei Deng conducted the laboratory testing. Qiaoting Deng and Xuemin Guo helped to analyze the data. Zhixiong Zhong, Jingyuan Hou and Qiaoting Deng prepare the manuscript. Zhixiong Zhong, Jingyuan Hou and Xuemin Guo reviewed the manuscript. Zhixiong Zhong and Jingyuan Hou revised the manuscript. The author(s) read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Zhixiong Zhong.

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Not applicable.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Hou, J., Deng, Q., Guo, X. et al. Association between apolipoprotein E gene polymorphism and the risk of coronary artery disease in Hakka postmenopausal women in southern China. Lipids Health Dis 19, 139 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12944-020-01323-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12944-020-01323-6

Keywords

Lipids in Health and Disease

ISSN: 1476-511X