Correlation between Apolipoprotein B 3' Hypervariable Region and Hyperlipidemia

Abstract

The apoB gene is the principal structural protein of very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) and low density lipoprotein (LDL) and correspondingly plays an important role in the metabolism of cholesterol and triglyceride. The 3'-flanking region of the apolipoprotein B (apoB) gene contains a hypervariable region comprising a variable number (29-57) of tandemly repeated units. Each unit comprises 14-16 bp. The polymorphic region was amplified by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using primers flanking this region. The lengths of products were visualized as bands by ethidium bromide staining. Each band showed polymorphic alleles.
We have typed alleles from patients with hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia and hyper-LDL cholesterolemia. The distribution of alleles in these patients is not different from that in a control population. This result suggests that the apoB 3'-flanking region does not contribute significantly to control of serum lipid level.