Dissociation between APOC3 variants, hepatic triglyceride content and insulin resistance.
Level 4 - case-series / case-control
Cross-sectional genetic association study within population-based cohorts
PubMed 21274868 · doi:10.1002/hep.24072
What was done
The authors genotyped two APOC3 variants (rs2854117 C>T and rs2854116 T>C) in 2,497 participants from the Dallas Heart Study (1,228 African Americans, 843 European Americans, and 426 Hispanics) to test for associations with hepatic triglyceride content (HTGC) and insulin resistance (HOMA-IR). They also evaluated the association between these variants and HOMA-IR in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study, including a subset of lean individuals (BMI < 25 kg/m², n = 4,399).
What was found
No numerical estimates, effect sizes, or p-values were reported in the abstract. No significant difference in hepatic fat content was found between carriers and noncarriers of the APOC3 variants in the Dallas Heart Study. Neither variant was associated with HOMA-IR in the Dallas Heart Study or in the ARIC study, including within the lean subgroup (n = 4,399).
Why it matters
These findings challenge previous reports that common APOC3 variants drive hepatic fat accumulation and insulin resistance across multiethnic middle-aged populations.
Limits
The abstract reports no numerical data, confidence intervals, or exact p-values. The total sample size for the full ARIC cohort is omitted, and the observational cross-sectional genetic design is limited to the tested variants and static indices of insulin resistance.
Cited by
- contradicts African Americans accumulate less hepatic fat on average due to a mutation in the APOC3 gene.