Serum apolipoprotein E in children and adolescents: the Bogalusa Heart Study

Serum apolipoprotein (apo) E levels and its relationship to lipids and lipoprotein cholesterol fractions were examined in a random subsample (n = 561) of children and adolescents (7 to 17 years of age) from a total biracial community. Mean (+/- SD) levels of apo E were higher in blacks (males 4.8 +/- 1.8 mg/dL; females 5.2 +/- 1.8 mg/dL) than in whites (males 3.9 +/- 1.2 mg/dL; females 4.3 +/- 1.0 mg/dL) irrespective of sex (P less than .001). The black-white difference in apo E persisted after controlling for the covariates: sexual maturation, age, adiposity, cigarette smoking, alcohol use, and oral contraceptive use (P less than .001). A sex differential (females greater than males, P less than .01) for apo E was seen in both racial groups. Apo E levels were inversely associated with age (P less than .01) and sexual maturation (P less than .05) only in white males. Apo E related positively and significantly to total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol fractions (HDL2-C and HDL3-C) in certain race-sex groups. Race, HDL2-C, triglycerides (very-low density lipoprotein cholesterol), HDL3-C, and sex were identified as predictor variables for apo E, in that order, and accounted for 21% of its variability in serum. It is conceivable that the observed race-sex differences in apo E may be related to apo E-HDL subfraction, which is thought to participate in the reverse cholesterol transport.