Apolipoprotein E4 allele does not influence serum triglyceride concentrations after a fat meal in black South African young adults

Abstract

This study investigated how the APOε4 allele affects the serum triglyceride response after a fatmeal in apparently healthy black South African young adults. Sixty students were successfully screened for APOE genotype using Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP) and were divided into four groups; the ε2 allele group (ε2/2; ε2/3), the ε2/4 allele group, the ε3 allele group (ε3/3) and the ε4 allele group (ε3/4; ε4/4). A maximum of 10 participants were anticipated from each group for oral fat tolerance test (OFTT) but some groups did not have the anticipated 10 participants. After exclusion only 31 participants were enrolled for the study. Weight and height were measured before OFTT and BMI was calculated. An in-dwelling venous catheter was inserted on the ante-cubital vein of sitting participants and fasting blood samples were drawn. After administration of fat load, blood was drawn at 20, 40, 60, 120, 180, 240, 300 and 360 minutes. No significant difference was observed for both fasting and postprandial triglyceride in the concentrations ‘between-the-group’ and ‘within-the-group’ among the ε2 allele group (ε2/2; ε2/3), the ε2/4 allele group, the ε3 allele group (ε3/3) and the ε4 allele group (ε3/4; ε4/4) and also between the ε4- (ε3/4, ε4/4) and non- ε4- (ε2/2, ε2/3. ε3/3) allele groups. It was concluded that the APO?4 allele did not have influence on postprandial triglyceride concentrations in this study. However, results should be interpreted with caution, given the limitation of the study.

Keywords: Apolipoprotein E, allele, fat-meal, triglyceride