Association of apolipoprotein J polymorphism 1598delT with coronary artery disease and lipoprotein levels

Alterations of HDL's to piHDL's Proteome in Patients with Chronic Inflammatory Diseases, and HDL-Targeted Therapies

Chronic inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, steatohepatitis, periodontitis, chronic kidney disease, and others are associated with an increased risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, which persists even after accounting for traditional cardiac risk factors. The common factor linking these diseases to accelerated atherosclerosis is chronic systemic low-grade inflammation triggering changes in lipoprotein structure and metabolism. HDL, an independent marker of cardiovascular risk, is a lipoprotein particle with numerous important anti-atherogenic properties. Besides the essential role in reverse cholesterol transport, HDL possesses antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, antiapoptotic, and antithrombotic properties. Inflammation and inflammation-associated pathologies can cause modifications in HDL's proteome and lipidome, transforming HDL from atheroprotective into a pro-atherosclerotic lipoprotein. Therefore, a simple increase in HDL concentration in patients with inflammatory diseases has not led to the desired anti-atherogenic outcome. In this review, the functions of individual protein components of HDL, rendering them either anti-inflammatory or pro-inflammatory are described in detail. Alterations of HDL proteome (such as replacing atheroprotective proteins by pro-inflammatory proteins, or posttranslational modifications) in patients with chronic inflammatory diseases and their impact on cardiovascular health are discussed. Finally, molecular, and clinical aspects of HDL-targeted therapies, including those used in therapeutical practice, drugs in clinical trials, and experimental drugs are comprehensively summarised.

Associations between CLU polymorphisms and memory performance: The role of serum lipids in Alzheimer's disease

CLU encoding clusterin, has been reported to associate with Alzherimer's disease (AD) by genome-wide association studies (GWAS) based on Caucasian populations. Our previous case-control study has independently confirmed the disease association of CLU in Chinese population. Since little is known about the underlying mechanism of CLU in AD, we have conducted this study to investigate whether the genetic impact of CLU polymorphisms on cognitive functioning is via serum lipid's dysfunction. Three GWAS previously published CLU polymorphisms including rs2279590, rs11136000 and rs9331888, were genotyped in 689 subjects. Serum levels of triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) were measured and tested as mediators. Delayed Word Recall Test (DWRT) was used to evaluate subjects' memory performance. Multiple mediation analysis, a nonparametric procedure to create confidence interval, was performed according to Preacher and Hayes's Bootstrapping method. Our findings suggested significant correlation between CLU polymorphism and DWRT scores for rs11136000 (p = 0.045) after adjustment for age, gender, body mass index, and APOEε4 status, with borderline significant correlation for rs2279590 (p = 0.058). Both T allele of rs11136000 and A allele of rs2279590 were negatively correlated with serum TG levels (p = 0.003; p = 0.001, separately). Moreover, A allele of rs2279590 was positively correlated with serum HDL-C levels (p = 0.015). Consistent with our hypotheses, the genetic impact of CLU polymorphisms on memory performance were partially mediated through TG (rs11136000 95% CI [-0.099,-0.003] and rs2279590 95% CI [-0.104, -0.004]), but not through HDL-C and LDL-C. Our findings indicate CLU polymorphisms may modify AD susceptibility through lipid metabolic pathway.