Abdominal obesity and hyperglycemia mask the effect of a common APOC3 haplotype on the risk of myocardial infarction

Abstract

The plasma concentration of apolipoprotein (apo) C-III is a strong predictor of the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) (1, 2). Apo C-III impairs the clearance of apo B lipoproteins from plasma, which results in an increase in plasma triacylglycerol concentrations (3–7) and directly activates atherosclerotic and inflammatory pathways in vascular cells (8, 9). Therefore, genetic variation affecting the expression of the APOC3 gene may alter apo C-III metabolism and influence CHD. Minor alleles of the 3238C - G (SstI site), -482C-T, and -455T-C polymorphisms are associated with higher plasma triacylglycerol (10–13) and apo C-III (14) concentrations and with an increased risk of CHD (13, 15–17).