Background The effect of genetic polymorphisms on fasting blood lipid levels have been widely studied but the effects of these within the context of a meal challenge remain less characterized. The current study aimed to investigate the association of SNPs in lipoprotein-related genes with blood lipid levels in healthy adults in the U.S.
Methods Men and women (n = 393) between 18-66 years of age with BMIs ranging from 18.5-45 kg/m 2 completed the cross-sectional Nutritional Phenotyping Study. Among them, 349 subjects (men = 167, 48%; women = 182, 52%) gave consent for genotyping. SNPs in APOA5 , APOB , APOC3 , APOE , and LDLR were assessed.
Results Reduced blood HDL-cholesterol levels were associated with the C allele of the APOA5 SNP (rs3135506) in women and the C allele of the APOE SNP (rs429358) in men in both fasting and postprandial states. The C allele of the APOE SNP was also correlated with increased LDL-C levels. The APOC3 rs2854116 TT genotype was associated with elevated total cholesterol in both sexes. Nevertheless, these SNPs had little impact on the postprandial triglyceride responses to the high-fat challenge meal. Additionally, no significant effects of SNPs in APOB (rs1042034) and LDLR (rs2228671) on triglycerides, cholesterol, or non-esterified free fatty acids levels were found.
Conclusions Cholesterol levels are strongly correlated with genotypes of the tested SNPs in APOA5 and APOE in a sex-dependent manner during fasting and postprandial states of healthy adults.
Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02367287. Registered February 20, 2015, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02367287.