# Effects of Polymorphisms in APOA4-APOA5-ZNF259-BUD13 Gene Cluster on Plasma Levels of Triglycerides and Risk of Coronary Heart Disease in a Chinese Han Population

## TL;DR

This study examines how genetic variations in a specific gene cluster affect triglyceride levels and heart disease risk in a Chinese population.

## Contribution

The study identifies specific genetic variants in the APOA4-APOA5-ZNF259-BUD13 gene cluster associated with triglyceride levels but not heart disease risk in Chinese individuals.

## Key findings

- Six SNPs in the APOA4-APOA5-ZNF259-BUD13 gene cluster were strongly associated with triglyceride levels in Chinese subjects.
- A weighted genotype score was significantly linked to triglyceride levels.
- No significant association was found between these SNPs and coronary heart disease risk.

## Abstract

Recent genome-wide association studies have identified several loci influencing lipid levels. The present study focused on the triglycerides (TG)-associated locus, the APOA4-APOA5-ZNF259-BUD13 gene cluster on chromosome 11, to explore the role of genetic variants in this gene cluster in the development of increasing TG levels and coronary heart disease (CHD).

Six single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), rs4417316, rs651821, rs6589566, rs7396835, rs964184 and rs17119975, in the APOA4-APOA5-ZNF259-BUD13 gene cluster were selected and genotyped in 5374 healthy Chinese subjects. There were strong significant associations between the six SNPs and TG levels (P<1.0×10−8). Moreover, a weighted genotype score was found to be associated with TG levels (P = 3.28×10−13). The frequencies of three common haplotypes were observed to be significantly different between the high TG group and the low TG group (P<0.05). However, no significant effects were found for the SNPs regarding susceptibility to CHD in the Chinese case-control populations.

This study highlights the genotypes, genotype scores and haplotypes of the APOA4-APOA5-ZNF259-BUD13 gene cluster that were associated with TG levels in a Chinese population; however, the genetic variants in this gene cluster did not increase the risk of CHD in the Chinese population.