Affiliations: Institute of Biochemistry, Facoltà di Medicina,
Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy | Central Analysis Laboratory, INRCA Hospital, Via
Montagnola, Ancona, Italy | Blood Center, Umberto I Hospital, Ancona, Italy
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Prof. Gian Paolo Littarru, Institute
of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Università Politecnica delle Marche,
Via Ranieri, 65, 60131 Ancona, Italy. Tel.: +39 071 2204674; Fax: +39 071
2801932; E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: The aim of this study was to inquire the antioxidant status in
plasma and lipoproteins isolated from normal subjects possessing different ApoE
genotypes. For this purpose we investigated blood samples from 106 healthy
blood donors: the distribution of ApoE alleles (E2/E2
= 0.9%, E2/E3 = 10.4%, E2/E4 = 2.8%, E3/E3 = 71.7%,
E3/E4 = 12.3% and E4/E4 1.9% with 1, 11, 3, 76, 13, and 2 subjects
respectively for each genotype) was in agreement with previous data. Almost no
differences were found in the concentrations of both coenzyme
Q_{10} (CoQ_{10}) and vitamin E for the
different genotypes. Concentration of CoQ_{10} in isolated
lipoproteins was also similar, in the different genotypes, when referred to
cholesterol; CoQ_{10} in LDL was higher for the E3/E3
subjects when referred to protein. Neither CoQ_{10} nor
vitamin E correlated with paraoxonase (PON) activity or cholesteryl-ester
hydroperoxides (CHP). Furthermore, there was no correlation between the same
lipophilic antioxidants and CHP levels. The only E2 homozygous subject found
had high levels of PON and low levels of CHP; the two E4/E4 subjects had low
PON activity together with low levels of CHP.
Keywords: Vitamin E, LDL, HDL, paraoxonase, cholesteryl-esters hydroperoxide
Journal: BioFactors, vol. 18, no. 1-4, pp. 299-305, 2003
