Apolipoprotein C‐III (APOC3) gene variants as predictors of allostatic load and disease in Puerto Ricans

Puerto Ricans living in the US have high prevalence of adverse health outcomes. Stressors such as genetic predisposition may lead to greater allostatic load and thus, to disease. This study aimed to determine the association of four APOC3 polymorphisms (G34G, m2886, m455 and m640) with markers of allostatic load and metabolic conditions in Puerto Rican participants of the Boston‐Puerto Rican Center for Population Health and Health Disparities [n=930, ages 45–75]. Subjects were assessed for anthropometric and demographic measures. Blood and urine samples were analyzed for biomarkers. Logistic regressions were run to predict sex‐specific quartiles of allostatic load markers and disease state for each APOC3 variant, adjusting for age, sex, smoking and alcohol. Subjects with APOC3 G43G T allele had significantly higher odds of being overweight than CC subjects. The T allele frequency is higher in Puerto Ricans than in US Caucasians. For APOC3 m640, T allele carriers, also at higher frequency than in Caucasians, showed significantly elevated odds of high cholesterol than GG subjects. Homozygous T subjects had twice the odds of being in the upper quartile for cholesterol/HDL‐C ratio than GG subjects. In summary, APOC3 gene variants predict markers of allostatic load among Puerto Ricans. Higher frequency of the deleterious gene variants may contribute to the role of allostatic load on health disparities in this group.