Genetic variation of the Apo Al-CIII-AIV gene cluster in hypertriglyceridemic patients with chronic renal failure undergoing hemodialysis.

Many patients with chronic renal failure (CRF) requiring hemodialysis present with hypertriglyceridemia (HTG). But the exact cause of HTG in CRF is still unknown. Genetic variation of the apo AI-CIII-AIV gene cluster was reported to be associated with primary HTG, atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease. This study was designed to evaluate the association between the restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) of the apo AI-CIII-AIV gene cluster and HTG in patients with CRF undergoing hemodialysis. Genetic variations of the apo AI-CIII-AIV gene cluster were analysed in peripheral leukocyte samples from 59 patients with CRF undergoing hemodialysis: 17 patients with HTG (CRF-HTG) and 42 patients without HTG (CRF-NTG). The RFLP was achieved through the digestion of PCR products by two restriction enzymes, SstI and MspI. The frequency of SstI minor allele (S2) in CRF-HTG was 0.44, which was significantly higher than that in CRF-NTG (0.17). Frequencies of MspI minor allele (M2) in CRF-HTG and CRF-NTG were not significantly different (0.5 vs 0.32) (p=0.07). Frequencies of S2-M2 genotype were 0.65 in CRF-HTG, and 0.27 in CRF-NTG (p<0.005). These data indicate that genetic variation of the apo AI-CIII-AIV gene cluster may serve as one of the causes of HTG in CRF.