Aim: To investigate the association between two polymorphisms of apolipoprotein C3 (APOC3) and risk of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in a Chinese Han population.
Methods: Genotypes for rs2854116 and rs2854117 in APOC3 and the known rs738409 in patatin-like phospholipase domain-containing protein 3 (PNPLA3) in 390 patients with NAFLD and 409 control subjects were determined by sequencing and polymerase chain reaction analysis. Serum lipid profiles were determined using biochemical methods, and an index of insulin resistance (IR, HOMA-IR), serum APOC3 concentrations and total antioxidant status (TAS) were also assessed.
Results: No significant differences in genotype and allele frequencies of rs2854116 and rs2854117 were found between the NAFLD population and the controls (P > 0.05). The OR for the association between -455C and -482T allele carriers and the risk of NAFLD were 1.06 (95%CI: 0.72-1.57, P > 0.05) and 1.00 (95%CI: 0.68-1.48, P > 0.05), respectively. The variant carriers did not have a significantly increased risk of NAFLD or elevated clinical and biochemical parameters such as APOC3 concentrations, IR (1.42 ± 0.43 vs 1.48 ± 0.52, P > 0.05), liver enzymes and TAS (13.94 ± 2.01 vs 14.38 ± 1.92, P > 0.05) compared with the controls. Moreover, the results were similar when testing was carried out independent of the genetic variation in PNPLA3.
Conclusion: The two polymorphisms of the APOC3 gene are not associated with a risk of NAFLD, or with lipid profiles, IR and oxidative stress in the Chinese Han population.
Keywords: Apolipoprotein C3; Insulin resistance; Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease; Oxidative stress; Polymorphism; Single nucleotide.