Association Between Apolipoprotein E Polymorphism and Subclinic Atherosclerosis in Patients with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus
Mehmet Emre Atabek1, Yusuf Özkul2, Beray Selver Eklioğlu1, Selim Kurtoğlu3, Murat Baykara41Selçuk University, Meram Faculty Of Medicine, Department Of Pediatric Endocrinology, Konya, Turkey2Erciyes University, School Of Medicine, Department Of Genetics, Kayseri, Turkey
3Erciyes University, School Of Medicine, Department Of Pediatric Endocrinology, Kayseri, Turkey
4Erciyes University, School Of Medicine, Department Of Radiology, Kayseri, Turkey
Objective: The most important cause of morbidity and mortality in type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM) is atherosclerosis. Apolipoprotein E (Apo E) polymorphism is accused of being the genetic risk factor for atherosclerosis. The aim of the present study was to determine which Apo E polymorphism was related to atherosclerosis in patients with type 1 DM.
Methods: Seventy-four patients with type 1 DM were enrolled in the study. Age, diabetes duration, daily insulin dose, microalbuminuria, and major cardiovascular risk factors including anthropometric and metabolic parameters were assessed in each patient. Non-invasive ultrasonographic measurements were also performed. For determination of Apo E genotype, DNA was extracted from venous blood from all subjects using standard methods. Apo E genotyping was performed using a PCR–restriction fragment-length polymorphism assay.
Results: Systolic blood pressure and carotid artery intima-media thickness (CA-IMT) were increased in subjects with E4/E4 polymorphism. According to univariate analysis, when adjusted for all risk factors, genotypes did not differ for total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides (p>0.05). However, E3/E3, E3/E4 and E4/E4 genotypes were found to be associated with an increase in CA-IMT (p<0.001).
Conclusions: Our results suggest that the polymorphism associated with atherosclerosis in type1 DM is Apo E4/E4.
Manuscript Language: English
