The Association between Apolipoprotein E Polymorphism and Response to Statins in Group of Hyperlipidemic Patients

Background and Objective: APOE has an important role in lipids metabolism, and in the variability in low density lipoprotein (LDL) response to statins treatment between individuals. In this study, we aim to investigate the association between APOE polymorphism and response to statins in Jordanian hyperlipidemic patients at the diabetic clinic of Jordan University Hospital. Methods: One hundred and fifty two Jordanian Hyperlipidemic patients (52 males and 100 females) aged between 35-75 years were enrolled in this study. This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of Jordan University Hospital. The genotypes of the patients were identified by polymerase chain reaction followed by restriction fragment length polymorphism assay method (PCR-RFLP). Results and Conclusion: The study showed that there is an association between APOE polymorphism and response to statin therapy. Patients who were APOE epsilon 4 carriers had lower response to statins compared to epsilon 3 and epsilon 2 carriers (p=0.002). In addition, we found that there was no significant association between APOE polymorphism and LDL baseline (p=0.214). No significant differences were found in APOE genotypes distribution between males and females (p=0.06). No significant association was found between age and APOE genotypes (p=0.347). A genotype screening test for dyslipidemic Jordanian patients is recommended to choose the appropriate treatment decisions, dosage, and to recognize the potential side effects of statin therapy.