Objetivo: este estudo teve como objetivo analisar o polimorfismo
genético da apolipoproteína E na doença arterial periférica obstrutiva
ou aneurismática.
Método: foram estudados 61 pacientes caucasóides do sexo masculino
com sintomas clínicos e comprovação angiográfica de doença
aterosclerótica, com idade entre 38 e 79 anos. O grupo-controle foi
constituído por 59 indivíduos. Foram excluídos os indivíduos com
doença renal, doença hepática ou diabetes melito. A análise do
polimorfismo genético da apolipoproteína E foi realizada por PCR
(polimerase chain reaction) e RFLP (restriction fragment lenght
polimorphism) com a endonuclease Hha I, identificando-se seis
genótipos: e2/e2, e2/e3, e2/e4, e3/e3, e3/e4 e e4/e4. Para análise
estatística, foram aplicados teste exato de Fisher e odds ratio, com intervalo
de confiança de 95%, e admitiu-se erro a de até 5%.
Resultados: o alelo e3 mostrou-se mais freqüente em pacientes e
controles, enquanto o alelo e4 apresentou maior prevalência nos controles
em relação aos pacientes, embora sem diferença significante entre
eles. Pacientes com doença arterial periférica obstrutiva mostraram
freqüência mais elevada do genótipo e3/e4 em comparação à
doença arterial periférica aneurismática, embora sem diferença significante
entre eles.
Conclusão: o polimorfismo da apolipoproteína E-Hha I não foi
associada com a doença arterial periférica.

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the genetic
polymorphisms of apolipoprotein E in peripheral artery disease.
Method: A total of 61 Caucasian male patients aged between
38 and 79 years old were studied. All the patients had clinical
symptoms of arterial disease, which was later confirmed by
angiography. A control group was constituted of 59 individuals.
Patients with renal disease, liver disease or diabetes mellitus were
excluded from the study. The genomic DNA was extracted from
leukocytes from 5 ml peripheral blood collected in EDTA and the
alleles of apolipoprotein E were investigated. Fisher’s exact test and
odds ratio were employed for statistical analysis.
Results: The e3 allele was more common in patients when
compared to the control group, whilst the e4 allele was more
frequent if the control group was compared to the study group,
however no significant difference was evidenced. Patients with
obstructive peripheral artery disease presented with a greater
frequency of the e3/e4 genotype compared to patients with
aneurysmal peripheral artery disease. No statistically significant
differences were observed.
Conclusion: No evidence was observed of an association
between apolipoprotein E polymorphisms and peripheral artery
disease.