Plasma apolipoprotein H (beta 2-glycoprotein I) phenotype frequencies in a Japanese population

We determined plasma apolipoprotein H (beta 2-glycoprotein I) levels in 300 healthy adult individuals and evaluated the frequencies of the BgN and BgD alleles in a Japanese population. These results were then compared with the previous reports. The plasma apo H levels in the subjects showed bimodal distribution: 274 subjects were in the range 15.6-33.2 mg/dl and were considered to be homozygous for BgN (phenotype NN), and 26 subjects were found in the range 9.6-14.8 mg/dl and were presumably heterozygous for BgN and BgD (phenotype ND). In this study, no sample below 5 mg/dl (phenotype DD) was found. Mean plasma apo H levels in NN and ND groups were 22.1 +/- 1.6 mg/dl and 12.5 +/- 1.6 mg/dl, respectively. The gene frequencies of BgN and BgD in a Japanese population were 0.957 and 0.043, respectively. These results were similar to gene frequencies of BgN and BgD in Caucasoids.