Joaquín Salas

Influence of mutation in human apolipoprotein A-1 gene promoter on plasma LDL cholesterol response to dietary fat

The plasma lipid response to changes in dietary fat and cholesterol can vary between individuals. At present, responders cannot be identified in advance. An adenine to guanine (A-->G) mutation in the promoter of the apolipoprotein A1 gene (apoA-1) has been suggested as affecting plasma high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. In 50 young men we examined the effect of the same mutation on the responses of both high and low density lipoprotein cholesterol to low-fat diet. The frequency for the A allele was 0.14. Subjects were fed a low-fat diet for 25 days, followed by a diet rich in monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA, 22% out of 40% fat) for 28 days and lipoproteins were measured at the end of each diet. There were no differences in initial total cholesterol between subjects with the G/G mutation (170 mg/dL: 100 mg/dL = 2.59 mmol/L) and the G/A mutation (169 mg/dL) genotypes. After consumption of the high monounsaturated fat diet, significant increases were noted in plasma LDL cholesterol (10 mg/dL, p = 0.035) in the G/A subjects but not in the G/G subjects (1 mg/dL, p = 0.996). These differences showed that a significant diet-gene interaction (p = 0.015) existed. No differences were observed on HDL cholesterol between groups. Plasma low-density lipoprotein cholesterol responsiveness to diet may be explained by variation at the apoA-I gene locus.