SstI RFLP and hypertension as risk factors for extracoronary atherosclerosis in a male population of southern Italy.

The present study was designed to investigate on possible association between SstI polymorphism in the ApoAI-CIII-AIV gene cluster, classical coronary heart disease risk factors and extracoronary atherosclerosis. One hundred and twenty six male subjects were enrolled and underwent echo-Doppler examination of carotid and femoral arteries, coronary heart disease risk factors assessment and SstI genotyping. The frequency of the rare SsI allele was 12.1% and 6.7% in subjects with or without extracoronary lesions respectively and was not associated with differences in the distribution of coronary heart disease risk factors. Forty subjects had hypertension, 34 homozygous for the frequent allele and 6 with presence of the rare allele. Among these, 10 subjects (29%) and 5 subjects (83%), respectively, had extracoronary atherosclerosis. Furthermore, subjects homozygous for the rare allele exhibited lipid abnormalities and a family history positive for hypertension and/or hyperlipidemia. These findings suggest a possible role for the ApoAI-CIII-AIV gene complex in both lipid metabolism and blood pressure regulation and could be of help to identify, within hypertensives, those subjects prone to extracoronary atherosclerosis.