ABSTRACT
Lipoprotein lipase (LPL) plays a central role in the clearance of very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) and chylomicrons from the circulation. It also affects the maturation of high density lipoprotein (HDL) and low density lipoprotein (LDL). LPL is an important candidate gene in determining the risk factor in metabolic disorders including primary hyperlipidemia. Our study is the first report from Thailand on the characterization of two common DNA polymorphisms, i.e Pvu II and Hind III at introns 6 and 8, respectively of the LPL gene in 94 Thai dyslipidemic subjects compared to 32 normolipidemic subjects using PCR-RFLP. It was observed that the frequencies of the cut and uncut alleles of Pvu II were 0.67 and 0.33 in normolipidemic subjects. Such frequencies were 0.64 and 0.36 in hyperlipidemic subjects. Additionally, the frequencies of the cut and uncut alleles of Hind III were found to be 0.73 and 0.27 in normolipidemic subjects. They were 0.85 and 0.15 in hyperlipidemic subjects. The allele frequencies of the Hind III but not Pvu II polymorphism in hyperlipidemic subjects were significantly different from normolipidemic subjects (p<0.05). The relation between these polymorphisms and lipid traits was not statistically significant (p>0.05).