Apolipoprotein polymorphisms fail to define risk of coronary artery disease. Results of a prospective, angiographically controlled study.

Because genetic factors are believed to contribute to the etiology of coronary artery disease (CAD), it has been suggested that DNA polymorphisms at candidate loci might identify individuals at high risk for developing disease. In this regard, apolipoprotein genes represent extremely promising loci because levels of apolipoproteins and their associated lipoproteins represent a major risk factor for CAD, and rare dysfunctional mutations in these genes result in a significant risk for CAD. To date, although some reports indicate that DNA polymorphisms at these loci are associated with increased risk of CAD, other reports have failed to find such associations.