New and confirmatory evidence of an association between APOE genotype and baseline C-reactive protein in dyslipidemic individuals

We have investigated the association between APOE genotypes and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels in a cohort of approximately 600 individuals who were candidates for statin therapy. An association had been previously reported between the APOE3 allele and elevated CRP levels. That study only examined men. We have reproduced that association in men and have extended the finding to women. We also investigated the effect of the interaction between APOE genotype and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) status on CRP levels, adjusting for body mass index (BMI) and other covariates. BMI and HRT are also significant predictors of CRP, as previously reported. The effect of HRT is strong enough that the contribution of APOE genotype is no longer statistically significant among women on HRT. We also demonstrate that the presence or absence of the single SNP Cysl30Arg (which distinguishes APOE4 from APOE2 and APOE3) is sufficient to determine whether an individual is predisposed to higher or lower CRP levels. Essentially, the presence of one or two copies of APOE4 is associated with a reduction of CRP levels by approximately 34% relative to individuals with zero copies (1.73 mg/L for subjects with one or two copies versus 2.63 mg/L for subjects with zero copies of APOE4). We also tested previously reported associations between CRP levels and polymorphisms in the CRP and IL6 genes. These associations were not reproduced in our cohort.