OBJECTIVETo investigate the polymorphism of acyl-coenzyme A: cholesterol acyltransferase 1(ACAT1) gene and its relationship with endogenous hypertriglyceridemia (HTG) in Chinese population.

METHODSA total of three hundred and seventy-two subjects (105 endogenous hypertriglyceridemics and 267 healthy controls) from a population of Chinese Han nationality in Chengdu area were studied using PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP).

RESULTSThe frequency of C allele in normal Chinese at rs1044925 locus was 0.137, which was lower than that reported in the population of central and Southern Europe (0.354) (P< 0.05). The frequency C allele was 0.153 in HTG group. No significant difference between normal control and HTG group. In control group, subjects with genotype AA had a higher serum mean concentrations of low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) and non-high density lipoprotein-cholesterol(nHDL-C) when compared with those of C allele carriers (AC and CC genotype carriers), respectively [(3.25+/- 0.68) mmol/L vs (3.03+/- 0.87) mmol/L, P< 0.05; (3.80+/- 0.71) mmol/L vs (3.23+/- 0.82) mmol/L, P< 0.05]. In HTG group, subjects with genotype AA had a higher high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) level compared with those of C allele carriers [(1.00+/- 0.28) mmol/L vs (0.87+/- 0.17) mmol/L, P< 0.05].

CONCLUSIONThese results suggest that rs1044925 polymorphism in ACAT1 gene is not only associated with serum LDL-C and nHDLC levels in healthy Chinese subjects in Chengdu area, but also with HDL-C level in subjects with endogenous hypertriglyceridemia in this population.