Assessing the APOE Gene's Impact on Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) and Serum Biomarkers: A Comprehensive Study
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, College of Medicine, Al-Iraqia University, Baghdad, Iraq.
Open Access Research Journal of Chemistry and Pharmacy, 2025, 07(02), 017-026.
Article DOI: 10.53022/oarjcp.2025.7.2.0017
Publication history:
Received on 07 October 2025; revised on 15 November 2025; accepted on 17 November 2025
Abstract:
Background: The apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene is central to lipid metabolism and cardiovascular physiology. The most common alleles are ε2, ε3 and ε4 which differ by two polymorphisms at codon 112 (rs429358) and 158 (rs7412) on chromosome 19q13.32: the rs429358(SNP1) minor T allele confers higher risk for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), most likely due to its pleiotropic effects related to abnormal lipid transport, blood vessel wall inflammation or changes in vascular smooth muscle/endothelial cell function.
Objectives: This study aimed to determine the association between APOE rs429358 genotypes and recently defined key serum markers: troponin, creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB), myoglobin, and ApoE in CVD-confirmed patients. Next, we explored the moderating effect of body mass index (BMI) on these relationships.
Methods: The study involved 90 subjects in total, of which 60 were clinically diagnosed CVD patients and the remaining 30 were age-matched healthy volunteers. QRT-PCR Amplification of rs429358 Extraction Genomic DNA was extracted from the whole blood, and genotyping of rs429358 was carried out with QRT-PCR. Using ELISA and Roche diagnostic instruments, we measured troponin, CK-MB, myoglobin, and ApoE serum levels. The statistical analysis was performed using t-tests and ANOVA for the mean comparison, Pearson correlation, and genotype–phenotype stratification models.
Results: A significantly increased frequency of the TT genotype of rs429358 was found in CVD patients compared with control subjects (60% vs 23.3%, p < 0.001), but not with age. Stratified analysis also revealed that the rs429358 genotypes jointly defined 'risky' ratios of several biomarkers and BMI levels, supporting the concept of genetic-metabolic synergy as a potential condition for cardiovascular risk.
Conclusions: APOE rs429358 polymorphism is closely related to CVD patients' high cardiac biomarkers and BMI increase. Altogether, our results illustrate the value of combining genetic and metabolomic-risk scores to enhance risk stratification for early intervention in cardiovascular disease. This genotype–phenotype interaction could influence precision medicine therapeutic strategies for atherosclerotic progression and myocardial injury
Keywords:
Cardiovascular Disease; Apolipoprotein E; Troponin; Creatine Kinase
Full text article in PDF:
Copyright information:
Copyright © 2025 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Liscense 4.0