Apolipoprotein E gene polymorphism and obesity status in middle-aged men with coronary heart disease.

Apolipoprotein (apo) E polymorphism has been associated with coronary heart disease (CHD) and obesity. We aimed to determine whether apoE polymorphism is related to CHD in patients with different body mass index (BMI). A total of 359 CHD men and 248 healthy controls with BMI <27 kg/m2 were genotyped for the apoE polymorphism. The CHD patients were divided into: normoweight (BMI: 24 +/- 1 kg/m2, n=98), overweight (BMI: 27 +/- 1 kg/m2, n=189) and obese (BMI: 32 +/- 2 kg/m2, n=72) groups. There was a significant difference in apoE genotype frequency between normoweight CHD patients and healthy controls (epsilon2epsilon2 + epsilon2epsilon3: 6% vs. 15%, p=0.029; epsilon3epsilon3: 83% vs. 70%, p=0.045, respectively). The apo epsilon3epsilon4 + epsilon4epsilon4 frequency was higher in obese compared with normoweight CHD patients (p=0.043). The severity of CHD was similar in all patients with CHD. Normoweight CHD patients, despite having a lower BMI and more favorable lipid profile, did not display any significant difference in CHD severity. This could be partially attributed to the lower frequency of the epsilon2 cardio-protective allele in normoweight CHD patients compared with normoweight healthy individuals.