Genetic studies of human apolipoproteins. IX. Apolipoprotein D polymorphism and its relation to serum lipoprotein lipid levels

Abstract

Apolipoprotein D (APO D) is a constituent of plasma high-density lipoproteins. Its precise role in lipid metabolism is not well established, though it may be involved in cholesterol esterification and cholester ester transport to the liver for catabolism. No genetic polymorphism has been reported in the APO D gene product. To investigate the extent of genetic variation at the APO D structural locus, we have developed an isoelectric focusing-immunoblotting technique and have screened a large number of plasma samples from U.S. whites, U.S. blacks, Nigerian blacks, the Aleuts of the Pribilof Islands, Eskimo groups from Kodiak Island and St. Lawrence Island, and Amerindian populations from Mexico and Canada. Except for the U.S. blacks and Nigerian blacks, the APO D locus is monomorphic in all other population groups tested. In populations with black ancestry, the products of two alleles, APO D^∗1 and APO D^∗2, have been observed at respective allele frequencies .987 and .013 in U.S. blacks and .978 and .022 in Nigerian blacks. The detection of a unique protein polymorphism in blacks makes APO D a useful black marker of significance in anthropogenetics and racial admixture studies. In addition to the interindividual variation observed, APO D reveals extensive intraindividual molecular variation with a multiple banding pattern. The basis of this molecular variation is explained, in part, by variation in the number of terminal sialic acid residues. We have investigated the effect of the APO D polymorphism on triglycerides, total cholesterol, LDL-, VLDL-, HDL-, and HDL3 cholesterol in 352 Nigerian blacks (190 males and 162 females). Although no significant effect of APO D polymorphism was seen on lipoprotein lipid levels, there was indication that the APO D^∗2 allele may be associated with lower triglyceride levels.