Association between apolipoprotein C3 gene promoter polymorphisms and fasting triglyceride level: A meta-analysis

Background

The apolipoprotein C3 gene (APOC3) polymorphisms were reported to be associated with lipid levels. But recent studies showed contradictory results about the associations between APOC3 rs854116 and rs2854117 polymorphisms and fasting TG level. This study aimed to investigate the associations of the two polymorphisms and TG levels, considering other factors such as gender, age and ethnicity.

Methods

Twenty-five eligible studies with 20686 subjects were included in this meta-analysis. The pooled standardized mean difference (SMD) and its 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to assess the differences of the variables between the genotypes.

Results

The results showed that the variant allele carriers had a higher TG level than non-carriers (13 studies for −455T > C, SMD: 0.39, 95%CI: 0.02–0.77, P = 0.04; 12 studies for −482C > T, SMD: 0.36, 95%CI: 0.08–0.68, P = 0.01). But when homozygous group was defined as wild-type allele at both SNPs, and the case group was defined as carriers of one or more variant alleles at either SNP, no significant difference was found (7 studies, SMD: 0.05, 95%CI: −0.34 to 0.45, P = 0.79). Significant results were found in adult group (for −455T > C, SMD: 0.36, 95%CI: 0.07–0.65, P = 0.01; for −482C > T, SMD: 0.06, 95%CI: 0.00–0.11, P = 0.04) and in Caucasian group (for −482C > T, SMD: 0.45, 95%CI: 0.02–0.87, P = 0.04).

Conclusions

APOC3 rs854116 and rs2854117 polymorphisms are associated with higher fasting TG level, respectively. This association was significant in adult and Caucasian subgroup. The interaction of these polymorphisms and the environmental factors might be worth studying further.