Scientific Reports (Mar 2022)

Effects of Apolipoprotein E polymorphism on carotid intima-media thickness, incident myocardial infarction and incident stroke

  • Anitha Pitchika,
  • Marcello Ricardo Paulista Markus,
  • Sabine Schipf,
  • Alexander Teumer,
  • Sandra Van der Auwera,
  • Matthias Nauck,
  • Marcus Dörr,
  • Stephan Felix,
  • Hans-Jörgen Grabe,
  • Henry Völzke,
  • Till Ittermann

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-09129-5
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 1
pp. 1 – 10

Abstract

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Abstract The Apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene polymorphism (rs429358 and rs7412) shows a well-established association with lipid profiles, but its effect on cardiovascular disease is still conflicting. Therefore, we examined the association of different APOE alleles with common carotid artery intima-media thickness (CCA-IMT), carotid plaques, incident myocardial infarction (MI) and stroke. We analyzed data from 3327 participants aged 20–79 years of the population-based Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP) from Northeast Germany with a median follow-up time of 14.5 years. Linear, logistic, and Cox-regression models were used to assess the associations of the APOE polymorphism with CCA-IMT, carotid plaques, incident MI and stroke, respectively. In our study, the APOE E2 allele was associated with lower CCA-IMT at baseline compared to E3 homozygotes (β: − 0.02 [95% CI − 0.04, − 0.004]). Over the follow-up, 244 MI events and 218 stroke events were observed. APOE E2 and E4 allele were not associated with incident MI (E2 HR: 1.06 [95% CI 0.68, 1.66]; E4 HR: 1.03 [95% CI 0.73, 1.45]) and incident stroke (E2 HR: 0.79 [95% CI 0.48, 1.30]; E4 HR: 0.96 [95% CI 0.66, 1.38]) in any of the models adjusting for potential confounders. However, the positive association between CCA-IMT and incident MI was more pronounced in E2 carriers than E3 homozygotes. Thus, our study suggests that while APOE E2 allele may predispose individuals to lower CCA-IMT, E2 carriers may be more prone to MI than E3 homozygotes as the CCA-IMT increases. APOE E4 allele had no effect on CCA-IMT, plaques, MI or stroke.