Association between APOE genotype with body composition and cardiovascular disease risk markers is modulated By BMI in healthy adults: findings from the BODYCON study

[...]studies investigating the associations between APOE genotype with CVD risk markers have generated inconsistent results, with a small number of human studies suggesting that BMI might play an important role in this relationship(2, 3).Therefore, we assessed the association between APOE genotype with body composition and CVD risk markers, with further examination of the role of BMI on this association. BODYCON (impact of physiological and lifestyle factors on body composition) was a cross-sectional observational study in which 360 healthy men and women aged 18–70 y with a BMI of 18.5–39.9 kg/m2 underwent a measure of body composition by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry, assessment of physical activity level using a tri-axial accelerometer and habitual dietary intake using a 4-day weighed food diary. When the group were stratified into normal-weight and overweight/obese BMI groups, lean body mass was 6.4% lower in the APOE3/E3 group (mean ± SE,45.2 ± 0.5 kg) compared to the APOE4 carriers (48.1 ± 0.9 kg) in the normal BMI group (p ≤ 0.02), while in the overweight/obese BMI group, the android:gynoid fat ratio was 7.6% lower in the APOE4 carriers (1.10 ± 0.03) compared to the APOE3/E3 group (1.19 ± 0.02)(p = 0.04).Differences in fasting lipid concentrations between the APOE2/E3 and other genotype groups was only found within the normal weight (p ≤ 0.04) but not overweight/obese BMI subgroup. [...]the APOE2/E3 participants within the normal-weight BMI group had a lower dietary fibre and trans-fat intake compared to the APOE4 carriers and lower carbohydrate intake compared to the APOE3/E3 group while there were no differences between genotypes in the overweight/obese BMI group.