Influence of nutritional factors and the PON1 C(-107)T polymorphism on paraoxonase-1 activity in childhood

The cardioprotective enzyme paraoxonase-1 (PON1) suffers an important influence from genetic polymorphisms and nutritional factors. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of diet, nutritional status, and the C(-107)T polymorphism on PON1 arylesterase activity in children.

This was a cross-sectional study with 97 children, aged between 5 and 8 years, of both genders, from a pediatric outpatient clinic in southern Brazil. A sociodemographic, behavioral, and food consumption questionnaire was applied, and anthropometric measurements and laboratory blood samples were taken. PON1 arylesterase activity was measured by phenol extinction (U/mL), and DNA extraction and analysis of the PON1 C(-107)T polymorphism were performed. The Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium was tested with the chi-squared test and linear regression was used to estimate PON1 activity according to four adjustment models, with an acceptable error of 5%.

In the sample, the male gender accounted for 50.5%, 39.2% were 6 years of age, 54.5% had normal weight, and 51.5% had PON1 activity below the median (90.0, 15-30U/mL). Genotype frequency was 54.6% (53/97), 31.0% (30/97), and 14.4% (14/97), respectively, for CT, CC, and TT, consistent with the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (p=0.22). In the regression analysis, the model that included sociodemographic variables as well as frequency of consumption of fruits, vegetables, legumes, dairy products, and beans estimated a variability of 14.8% in PON1 activity combined with the PON1 C(-107)T polymorphism.

During childhood, a good-quality diet with greater inclusion of healthy foods was important to predict the activity of the cardioprotective enzyme PON1 combined with the C(-107)T polymorphism of the PON1 gene.