European Heart Journal Advance Access originally published online on May 2, 2009
European Heart Journal 2009 30(13):1584-1589; doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehp145
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The T111I variant in the endothelial lipase gene and risk of coronary heart disease in three independent populations
1 Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark
2 Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
3 Center for Cardiovascular Research, Aalborg Hospital, Aarhus University Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark
4 Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
5 Department of Medicine, Channing Laboratory, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
6 Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA
7 Department of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA
8 Research Centre for the Working Environment, Copenhagen, Denmark
9 National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Soborg, Denmark
10 Institute of Science, Systems and Models, Roskilde University, Roskilde, Denmark
11 Danish Cancer Society, Copenhagen, Denmark
12 Institute of Preventive Medicine, Center for Health and Society, Copenhagen, Denmark
13 Department of Cardiology, Aalborg Hospital, Aarhus University Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark
Received 6 November 2008; revised 16 February 2009; accepted 13 March 2009; online publish-ahead-of-print 2 May 2009.
* Corresponding author. Tel: +1 617 432 6893, Fax: +1 617 432 2435, Email: mkjensen{at}hsph.harvard.edu
Aims: Endothelial lipase (LIPG) is implicated in the metabolism of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). Small studies in selected populations have reported higher HDL-C levels among carriers of the common T111I variant in LIPG, but whether this variant is associated with plasma lipids and risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) in the general population is unclear. The objective of this study was to address the associations of the T111I variant with plasma lipids and risk of CHD in three independent prospective studies of generally healthy men and women.
Methods and results: The T111I variant was genotyped in case–control studies of CHD nested within the Diet, Cancer, and Health study with 998 cases, Nurses’ Health Study with 241 cases, and Health Professionals Follow-up Study with 262 cases. The minor allele frequency in the combined pool of controls was 0.29. The T111I variant was not associated with HDL-C or any other lipid and lipoprotein measures. Compared with wildtype homozygotes, the pooled estimate for risk of CHD was 0.95 (0.85–1.06) per T111I allele.
Conclusion: Our analysis among healthy Caucasian men and women from three independent studies does not support an association between the T111I variant and HDL-C, other plasma lipids, or risk of CHD.
Key Words: Genetic epidemiology • Endothelial lipase • HDL-cholesterol • CHD-risk