APOA5-1131T>C Polymorphism is Associated with Triglyceride Levels in Chinese Men

A new apolipoprotein gene, APOA5, was recently discovered near the APOA1/C3/A4 gene cluster. Transgenic mice overexpressing the homologous gene, apoa5, showed reduced plasma triglyceride levels, while knockout mice had greatly increased triglycerides, suggesting that human genetic variants affecting expression of the protein product, APOAV, might affect triglyceride levels. Polymorphisms in the APOA5 gene were indeed found to be associated with triglyceride levels in men, though not in women. We sought to confirm the association of the APOA5-1131T>C polymorphism with triglyceride levels in 167 Chinese men chosen for having either high (>/=1.7 mm, n = 82) or low (</=1.2 mm, n = 85) triglycerides. More subjects with high triglycerides had one or two copies of the minor (C) allele of the polymorphism (67%) than did low triglyceride subjects (48%), and combining all subjects showed that those with one or two C alleles had higher triglyceride levels [1.67 +/- 2.20 (geometric mean +/- SD)] than those without (1.22 +/- 2.08 mm, p = 0.01), confirming the reported effect in a different ethnic group. The C allele is more common in Chinese than in Caucasians (26-40% vs. 8% of alleles), suggesting that the impact of this polymorphism on triglyceride levels in the population and therefore on public health is greater among Chinese.