Original scientific paper
A Pentanucleotide Repeat Polymorphism (TTTTA) in the Apolipoprotein (a) Gene – Its Distribution and Its Association with the Risk of Cardiovascular Disease
Carla Maria Calò
Laurent Varesi
Marc Memmi
Pedro Moral
Giuseppe Vona
Abstract
Apolipoprotein (a) is a component of lipoprotein (a). Several studies have shown the
association between risk of coronary heart diseases and the size of apo(a) isoforms, although
this issue is still controversial. Recent researches focused the attention on the
pentanucleotide (TTTTA), highlighting a statistical correlation between low Lp(a) levels
and high repeat numbers. In the present paper we studied the distribution of the
apo(a) pentanucleotide polymorphism among populations from Corsica, and we then
compared it with other populations from Europe, Africa and Asia. The results stressed
out the usefulness of these markers in population genetics analysis. We later investigated
the possible association of the apo(a) pentanucleotide polymorphism with serum
lipid levels in two samples from Corsica (France): one comprises patients or individuals
with high risk of future coronary heart disease and the other is a control sample. No significant
differences between the two groups have been found, but the analysis of variance
showed a significant association between different genotypes and cholesterol and
LDL serum levels.
Keywords
apoA; pentanucleotide repeat polymorphism; cardiovascular disease
Hrčak ID:
28070
URI
Publication date:
16.6.2003.
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