Effects of LEP G2548A and LEPR Q223R Polymorphisms on Serum Lipids and Response to Simvastatin Treatment in Chinese Patients With Primary Hyperlipidemia

Objectives: To investigate whether LEP G2548A and LEPR Q223R polymorphisms influence serum lipid levels and whether the 2 polymorphisms affect the efficacy of simvastatin treatment in Chinese patients with primary hyperlipidemia. Methods: We used an extreme sampling approach by selecting 212 individuals from the top and bottom 15% of adjusted lipid-lowering response residuals to simvastatin (n = 106 in each group of good or bad response) from a total of 734 samples with primary hyperlipidemia. They were treated with simvastatin orally 20 mg/d. Fasting serum lipids were measured at baseline and after 4 and 8 weeks of treatment. Genotyping was carried out using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism. Results: More patients in the good response group (27%) had LEPR Q223R than in the bad response group (16%, P =.046). Secondary stratified analyses showed that patients carrying the RR genotype of the LEPR Q223R gene had significantly higher high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels than those with the QR genotype at baseline (P = .034) among good responders. After 29 consecutive days of treatment with simvastatin, patients carrying the RR genotype had a significantly larger decrease in triglycerides (change: -0.74 +/- 0.92, P =.036) and total cholesterol levels (change: -1.77 +/- 0.68, P = .023) compared with those carrying QR genotype among bad responders. After Bonferroni correction, the results were not statistically significant. Conclusion: LEPR Q223R polymorphism, but not LEP G2548A, could modulate the efficacy of simvastatin in Chinese patients with primary hyperlipidemia.