Influence of polymorphisms for apolipoprotein B ( ins / del , Xba l, Eco RI)and apolipoprotein E on serum lipids and apolipoproteins in a Javanese population

A total of 231 healthy subjects from a central Javanese population were investigated for the distribution of three apolipoprotein B (apo B) polymorphisms ( ins / del , Xba I, and Eco RI), as well as apolipoprotein E (apo E) polymorphism in relation to serum lipid and apolipoprotein concentrations. The frequencies of the rarer alleles ( del , 0.09; X + , 0.1; and R − , 0.06) were lower than have been found for some Asian and European populations. Distribution of genotypes was in Hardy‐Weinburg equilibrium for all the polymorphisms. A linkage disequilibrium was observed only between the ins / del and Xba I site polymorphisms of apo B (χ 4 2 = 25.3; P < 0.001) consistent with that observed in some other population studies. No polymorphism of the apo B gene had an association with serum lipid or apolipoprotein concentrations in this population except for Xab I, which appeared to be associated with serum TG (as the log transform: R 2 = 8.3; F = 4.8; P < 0.01). The apo E4 allele was found to be associated with significantly higher serum total cholesterol (TC) and low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLC). Apo E polymorphism explained 5.9% of the sample variance of serum LDLC ( F = 5.4; P < 0.01). © 1994 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.