Effects of polymorphisms in APOA5 on the plasma levels of triglycerides and risk of coronary heart disease in Jilin, northeast China: a case–control study

OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study is to investigate the associations of apolipoprotein A5 (APOA5) polymorphisms with coronary artery disease (CAD) in a Chinese population. METHOD: This case–control study included 710 subjects (355 patients with CAD and 355 controls) who were recruited from a cross-sectional study. Three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) rs662799 (−1131T>C), rs651821 (−3A>G) and rs2075291 (G185C) in APOA5 were selected and genotyped using the matrix-assisted laser desorption ioniasation time of flight mass spectrometry technology. The χ(2) test and haplotype analysis were performed to analyse the associations between APOA5 SNPs and CAD using the SPSS V.22.0 software package and the online SNPStats program. RESULTS: APOA5 SNPs rs662799 and rs651821 exhibited significant differences in genotype and allele distributions between patients with CAD and control subjects. The SNP rs662799 was significantly correlated with an increased risk of CAD when a dominant model was considered. The SNP rs651821 was significantly correlated with an increased risk of CAD when a codominant model was considered. Moreover, the variant C alleles of rs662799 and the variant G alleles of the rs651821 polymorphism were significantly correlated with increased plasma triglyceride (TG) levels in the CAD group (all p<0.05). Additionally, a mediating effect of TG on the associations between the APOA5 rs662799 and rs651821 polymorphisms and CAD was observed. CONCLUSION: Based on these data, variants of the APOA5 gene are associated with CAD susceptibility and may modulate plasma TG levels among a Chinese population.