Associations between Apolipoprotein E Gene Polymorphisms and Cardiovascular Complications of Uremic Patients on Maintenance Hemodialysis

This study is to investigate the associations between apolipoprotein E (ApoE) gene polymorphisms and cardiovascular complications of uremic patients on maintenance hemodialysis (MHD). Uremic patients on MHD (189, case group) and healthy people (165, control group) were recruited. Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) was used to test ApoE gene polymorphisms. Indicators of MHD and cardiovascular complications were observed. Compared with the control group, the case group had decreased frequency of epsilon 3/3 genotype and epsilon 3 allele and increased epsilon 4/3 genotype and epsilon 4 allele. The epsilon 4 group had elevated adiponectin, serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, and total cholesterol but decreased HDL-C compared with other groups. The epsilon 3 group had reduced complications. ApoE epsilon 3 and epsilon 4 alleles were related with cardiovascular complications of the uremic patients on MHD. We concluded that ApoE gene polymorphisms were associated with susceptibility to infections in uremia, and that ApoE epsilon 3 and epsilon 4 alleles might correlate with cardiovascular complications of uremic patients on MHD. (C) 2018 S. Karger AG, Basel