Journal of Nutrition & Food Sciences
Open Access
ISSN: 2155-9600
ISSN: 2155-9600
Tertia Van Zyl
North-West University, South Africa
Posters-Accepted Abstracts: J Nutr Food Sci
Background: Elevated LDL-C levels promote the development of atherosclerosis and are a major risk factor in the progression of coronary heart disease. Dietary factors, weight, physical activity, age, gender and genetics are important factors that affect plasma LDL-C levels. The aim of the study was to investigate which of these factors best predict the variance in LDL-C levels in a black South African population. Methods: The PCSK9 and LDLR genes in 1530 volunteers, aged 35 to 60 years, of the South African PURE study population were screened for 52 variants. From these SNPs we determined a genetic risk score and haplotypes. Validated quantified food frequency questionnaires were used to determine the dietary intakes of the volunteers. Spearman��?s correlations were used to identify which factors correlated best with LDL-C levels. Separate linear regression models were used to determine the predictive value of each of the variables. Results: The GRS, selected SNPs and haplotypes explained 1.4%, 3.4% and 2.7% of the variance respectively in plasma LDL-C. BMI was the factor with the largest predictive value and could explain 6.6% of the variance in LDL-C levels. There were no significant correlation between LDL-C levels and dietary intakes. Conclusion: From these results we can conclude that BMI is a factor with a large impact on determining the variance in mean LDL-C levels in this study population. Genetic results showed that rare variants with greater effect on protein function have a better predictive value than the more common variants. The contribution of genetics in predicting LDL-C levels can be strengthened by including more genes as lifestyle factors contributed more towards the prediction of LDL-C levels in this study. The importance of the genetic variants in predicting LDL-C levels was less than the lifestyle factors used in this study.
Email: tertia.vanzyl@nwu.ac.za