Apolipoprotein E phenotype regulates cholesterol absorption in healthy 13-month-old children--The STRIP Study.
Level 3 - non-randomized controlled study
Cross-sectional comparative study nested within a prospective trial cohort evaluating genetic phenotypes
PubMed 11726725 · doi:10.1203/00006450-200112000-00010
What was done
Serum plant sterols (campesterol and sitosterol, reflecting cholesterol absorption) and cholesterol precursor sterols (desmosterol and lathosterol, reflecting cholesterol synthesis) were measured via gas-liquid chromatography in 36 healthy 13-month-old children (16 with the apoE4 phenotype and 20 with the apoE 3/3 phenotype). The participants were drawn from the randomized prospective Special Turku Coronary Risk Factor Intervention Project (STRIP).
What was found
Children with the apoE4 phenotype had 30% to 50% higher cholesterol-adjusted serum campesterol (p = 0.002) and sitosterol (p = 0.02) concentrations compared to apoE 3/3 children. Serum concentrations of the cholesterol precursor sterols did not differ significantly between the phenotype groups.
Why it matters
This indicates that the adult pattern of enhanced cholesterol absorption associated with the apoE4 phenotype is established by early childhood, occurring without a compensatory downregulation of endogenous cholesterol synthesis.
Limits
The sample size is very small (n = 36). The abstract does not report baseline dietary intake, absolute sterol concentrations, or how trial intervention arms were distributed across the phenotype groups, and results from this specific infant cohort may not generalize widely.
Cited by
- contradicts No clinical research studies have evaluated whether circulating desmosterol levels differ in individuals carrying the APOE4 allele.