Advisory Committee Chair
Jose R Fernandez
Advisory Committee Members
Barbara A Gower
M Amanda Brown
Document Type
Thesis
Date of Award
2007
Degree Name by School
Master of Science (MS) School of Health Professions
Abstract
Although African Americans (AA) are well known to be more obese and more in-sulin resistant than European Americas (EA), several studies have shown that AA have lower plasma triglyceride (TG) and higher high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). The reasons for these levels of TG and HDL-C are not understood, and scientists have suggested a role of lipoprotein lipase (LPL), a key regulator of TG rich lipoproteins me-tabolism that is also thought to indirectly affect HDL-C metabolism. To investigate the extent to which these observed differences in TG and HDL-C are due to genetic makeup, we investigated the role of genetic admixture and two polymorphisms of the lipoprotein lipase gene (LPL RS285 and LPL RS250) in a sample of 255 AA and EA premenopausal females. To control for the confounding effect of other variables known to affect plasma TG and HDL-C and to differ between AA and EA, measures of adiposity, insulin resis-tance and secretion, and socioeconomic status were included as covariates in statistical models testing for the contributions of African genetic admixture to plasma levels of TG and HDL-C and for the presence of the gene polymorphism after adjusting for ancestral genetic background. Our results showed that both African genetic admixture and LPL RS285 explained significant portion of plasma TG variation (p< 0.001, p = 0.02, respec-tively). No significant association was found between African genetic admixture or LPL RS285 and HDL-C, neither between LPL RS250 or the outcomes of interest. In conclu- ii sion, genetic admixture and LPL RS 285 seem to explain TG variation between premenopausal AA and EA females.
Recommended Citation
Natour, Nihal Omar, "Using Genetic Admixture And Lipo Protein Lipase Polymorphisms To Explain Variations In Plasma Triglycerides And High Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol In Premenopauasal African And European American Females" (2007). All ETDs from UAB. 3613.
https://digitalcommons.library.uab.edu/etd-collection/3613