Associations of the APOC3 rs5128 polymorphism with plasma APOC3 and lipid levels: a meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Studies of the association between the apolipoprotein C3 gene (APOC3) rs5128 polymorphism and plasma levels of apolipoprotein C3 (APOC3) and lipids have reported apparently conflicting findings. This meta-analysis aimed to investigate the associations of the rs5128 polymorphism with fasting APOC3 and lipid levels. METHODS: The following information was abstracted for each study: ethnicity, age, sex, health condition, sample size, genotyping and lipid assay methods, mean and standard deviation or standard error by genotypes for APOC3 and lipid variables. There were 42 eligible studies with 23846 subjects included in this meta-analysis. A dominant model was used for this meta-analysis. RESULTS: The results showed that the carriers of the variant allele G had higher levels of APOC3 [standardized mean difference (SMD): 0.22, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.12-0.31, P < 0.00001], triglycerides (TG) (SMD: 0.33, 95% CI: 0.23-0.44, P < 0.00001), total cholesterol (TC) (SMD: 0.15, 95% CI: 0.09-0.22, P < 0.00001), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) (SMD: 0.11, 95% CI: 0.04-0.17, P = 0.001) than the non-carriers. No significant association between the APOC3 rs5128 polymorphism and lower levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) was detected under the dominant model (SMD: −0.03, 95% CI: −0.06-0.01, P = 0.156). CONCLUSIONS: The results from the present meta-analysis demonstrate a significant association between the APOC3 rs5128 polymorphism and higher levels of APOC3, TG, TC and LDL-C, but further studies are needed to elucidate the underlying mechanisms. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12944-015-0027-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.