Relationship Between Cerebrovascular Disease And Polymorphisms Of Apolipoprotein Genes

Cerebrovascular disease is the major culprit threatens human health. In our country the morbidity and mortality rate of stroke are higher than those of the average level worldwide. Stroke is the first cause of death in urban area. The main known risk factors for cerebrovascular disease include hypertension, cigarette smoking, diabetes, etc. Nevertheless, a majority of subjects with one or several of these risk factors do not develop stroke during their lifetime, suggesting that environmental factors do not account for all the risks of cerebrovascular disease. Evidences from epidemiological studies indicate that genetic factors are also involved in the pathogenesis of stroke. It is well known that atherosclerosis is associated with lipid abnormalities and apolipoproteins play an important part in lipoproteins metabolism. So apolipoprotein genes become the candidate genes for study of cardio and cerebro-vascular diseases.Apolipoprotein(a) [apo(a)] is a major protein component of lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)]. The physiological role of apo(a) remains unknown. Several epidemiological studies have established that elevated serum Lp(a) levels are independent risk factors for coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke, and restenosis of coronary lesions in white populations. Sib-pair analysis shown that plasma Lp(a) concentrations was determined mainly by apo(a) gene. The apo(a) gene is located on chromosome 6q26-27. A C to T transition at +93 and G to A transition at +121 from the transcription start site of the first exon have been found. The CT heterozygotes have been found to have lower mean Lp(a) levels compared with the CC homozygotes. The 121A allele has been found to be associated with increased Lp(a) concentrations.Apolipoprotein AIV(apoAIV) plays a role in dietary fat absorption by co-activation of lipoprotein lipase. It involves in the course of mature of high density lipoprotein (HDL) and plays a role in reverse cholesterol transport. The gene for human apoAIV resides in the 11q13 region on the long arm of chromosome 11. Several polymorphisms of apoAIV gene has been detected in Caucasian, including apoAIV Thr347Ser and Gln360His polymorphisms. Study shows that the presence of 347Ser...