Polymorphism of small intestinal fatty acid binding protein and risk of coronary heart disease in the elderly

Objective To study the relation of codon 54polymorphism in the exon 2coding area of small intestinal fatty acid binding protein with blood lipid level and risk of coronary heart disease(CHD)in the elderly.Methods Fifty-six elderly CHD patients served as a patient group and 49 healthy elderly subjects served as a control group in this study.Their general clinical data were recorded,their serum TC,TG,LDL-C and HDL-C levels were measured by PCR,and their HhaⅠ polymorphism of small intestinal I-FABP was detected with DNA restriction enzyme technique. Results The HhaⅠ was dected in codon 54in the exon 2coding area of small intestinal I-FABP, which produced 3polymorphic fragments:wild type Ala54/Ala54,heterozygous mutant Ala54/ Thr54and Thr54/Thr54.The serum TC,TG,LDL-C levels were significantly higher in patients carrying A/T and T/T gene than in those carrying wild type gene(P0.05).BMI,history of alcohol consumption,dietary habit,small intestinal I-FABP allele gene were the leading independent risk factors for CHD.Conclusion Polymorphism of small intestinal I-FABP affecting the lipid metabolism in the elderly is related with the risk of CHD and may be a genetic susceptibility factor for CHD.