The distribution of Apolipoprotein E gene polymorphism and their influences in dyslipidemias in HIV-1 infections

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the frequency of ApoE (Apolipoprotein E) polymorphisms and their influence on antiretroviral therapy (ART) induced lipodystrophy/dyslipidemia in HIV-infected Thai patients. A case-control, retrospective study was conducted from HIV infections receiving ART. The clinical characteristics and allelic distribution of ApoE genotypes were compared between cases (moderated to severe lipodystrophy, n=67) and controls (absent to mild lipodystrophy, n=18) groups. Among 85 patients ApoE genotypes frequencies were 2.35% (n=2) for E2/E2, 20% (n=17) for E2/E3, 9.41% (n=8) for E2/E4, 36.47% (n=31) for E3/E3, 30.59% (n=26) for E3/E4 and 1.18% (n=1) for E4/E4. None of ApoE genotypes was associated with ART-induced lipodystrophy. However, level of the total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-cholesterol) and apolipoprotein B (ApoB) were trend to be lower in patient carrying E2 allele but were higher in E4 carriers. Interestingly, the ration between TC and high-density lipoprotein (TC/HDL ratio) and ApoB/ apolipoprotein A-I (ApoB/ApoA-I ratio) was significantly higher in the cases group. Patient carried E2 allele had protective lipid profile while E4 carriers seem to have more risk to dyslipidemia. In conclusion, variation of ApoE gene was not associated with lipodystrophy occurrence in antiretroviral drugs treated patients but influenced lipid alteration.