Relation between butyrylcholinesterase K variant, paraoxonase 1 (PON1) Q and R and apolipoprotein E ε4 genes in early-onset coronary artery disease

Bassam A. Nassar, Sultan Darvesh, Lisa D. Bevin, Kenneth Rockwood, Susan A. Kirkland, Blair J. O'Neill, Iqbal R. Bata, David E. Johnstone, Lawrence M. Title

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

17 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Objectives: The common K variant of butyrylcholinesterase (BChE-K), an enzyme which metabolizes acetylcholine and organophosphates, has been associated with Alzheimer's disease, especially in the presence of the apolipoprotein E ε4 allele (APOE-ε4). Although APOE-ε4 has been associated with the development of coronary artery disease (CAD), an association between the BChE-K variant and CAD has not been explored. Paraoxonase 1 (PON1), located within HDL, is an enzyme which also metabolizes organophosphates and may be antiatherogenic. The R192 variant of PON1 (PON1-R) has been associated with CAD. Design and methods: To determine whether BChE-K is also associated with premature CAD, we examined the frequency of BChE-K among patients with early-onset CAD (n = 150; < 50 yr) vs. late-onset CAD (n = 150; > 65 yr) by molecular analysis. We also examined the frequency of the PON1-R allele in both groups, and explored whether there was synergism between BChE-K and APOE-ε4, BChE-K and PON1-R or PON1-R and APOE-ε4. Results: The frequency of the BChE-K allele tended to be greater among early-onset CAD patients compared to late-onset CAD patients (41.3% vs. 31.3%; p = 0.07), but without any significant difference between males and females. There was no difference in the prevalence of the PON1-R allele between those with early- or late-onset CAD (46.0% vs. 52.7%; p = 0.25). Twenty-two patients with early-onset CAD had both the BChE-K plus APOE-ε4 alleles (14.7%) compared to 11 late-onset CAD patients (7.3%) (p = 0.04). There was no such association between BChE-K and PON1-R, nor PON1-R and APOE-ε4. Conclusions: Our study suggests that there is a minor association between BChE-K and early-onset CAD, especially in the presence of the APOE-ε4 allele.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)205-209
Number of pages5
JournalClinical Biochemistry
Volume35
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2002

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We thank N. Fitzgerald, K. Foshey, C. Peck, M. Francis and Gale Dempsey for their assistance in this work. We also thank Oksana Lockridge for providing BChE genotype variant control material. This work was funded in part by a grant from the Cardiac Prevention Research Center and the QEII Research Fund at the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Center, Halifax, Nova Scotia; and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of New Brunswick, New Brunswick, Canada.

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

  • Clinical Biochemistry

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