Association Of The VLDLR Rs3780181 SNP And Serum Lipid Levels In The Guangxi Jing And Han Populations

Background: Low-density lipoprotein(LDL)cholesterol,high-density lipoprotein(HDL)cholesterol,triglycerides,and total cholesterol are heritable,modifiable,risk factors for coronary artery disease.A recently Genome-wide association study(GWAS)has identified that the very low-density lipoprotein receptor(VLDLR)gene rs3780181 single nucleotide polymorphism(SNP)was associated with total cholesterol(TC)and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol(LDL-C)levels for the first time in Europeans,but little is known about such association of the VLDLR rs3780181 SNP and serum lipid profiles in the Chinese populations.The present study was to detect the association of the VLDLR rs3780181 SNP and several environmental factors with serum lipid levels in the Jing and Han populations.Importantly,the genetic variation has different magnitudes of effect in the different ethnicities but until now no GWAS has comprehensively investigated the genetic determinants of serum lipid levels in Chinese populations.Jing is unique in Chinese ethnic minorities living in the nation of the sea.It has a lot of differences between Jing and Han nationalities in diet custom lifestyles,culture characteristic and genetic background.Thus,the present study was to detect the association of the VLDLR rs3780181 SNP and serum lipid levels in the Jing and Han populations.Methods: A epidemiological study in the Jing and Han populations was conducted by stratified(sex and age)randomized sampling at Jiangping town,Dongxing,Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region,China.The epidemiological investigation was carried out following internationally standardized methods.Epidemiological data were recorded on a pre-designed form and managed with Excel software.The study populations included 707 unrelated subjects(276males,39.0% and 431 females,61.0%)of Han and 707 unrelated participants(278 males,39.3 % and 429 females,60.7%)of Jing.Blood samples were collected after a 12-hour fast for measurement and used to extract DNA.Genotyping of the VLDLR rs3780181 SNP was performed by polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism(PCR-RFLP),and then confirmed by direct sequencing.Data analysis was performed using the software SPSS version 17.0(SPSS Inc.,Chicago,Illinois).Results: The levels of height,weight,waist circumference,body mass index(BMI),glucose were higher in Jing than in Han,but the ratio of apolipoprotein(Apo)A1/ApoB,total cholesterol(TC),triglyceride(TG),the percentages of subjects consuming alcohol were lower in Jing than in Han(P < 0.05-0.001).The VLDLR rs3780181 G allele frequency was lower in Jing than in Han(P < 0.05).The G allele carriers(GA/GG genotypes)had lower serum TC levels in Jing,and lower LDL-C levels in Han than the G allele non-carriers(AAgenotypes).Subgroup analyses showed that the G allele carriers had lower TC levels in Jing females but not in Jing males,and lower LDL-C and apolipoprotein B levels in Han females but not in Han males.Multiple linear regression analyses showed that serum TC and LDL-C levels in Jing and Han,LDL-C levels in Han,and TC levels in Jing were correlated with genotypes(P < 0.05),respectively.When serum lipid data were analyzed according to gender,LDL-C and ApoB levels in Han,and TC levels in Jing were associated with the genotypes only in females but not in males.Several environmental factors such as age,gender,height,weight,waist circumference,alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking,and traditional cardiovascular risk factors such as BMI,fasting blood glucose and blood pressure levels were also correlated with serum lipid parameters in the Han and Jing populations and in males and females of both ethnic groups.The association of the VLDLRrs3780181 SNP and serum lipid levels is different between the Jing and Han populations.Conclusions: The results of the present study show that the association of the VLDLR rs3780181 SNP and serum lipid parameters is different between the Jing and Han populations,and between males and females of the both ethnic groups.These findings indicated that there may be a racial/ethnic-and/or sex-specific association of the VLDLR rs3780181 SNP and serum lipid levels.