Examination of apolipoprotein E polymorphysm in Behcet disease

8. SUMMARY Behcet's disease is a multisystem disorder which is characterized by ocular and skin manifestations and neurologic findings and by relapsing systemic inflammatory process and remission periods. In addition to multisystemic retention and organ pathology, Behcet's disease is associated with changes in serum lipid and lipoprotein levels. Recently, familial inheritance have been considered as an important factor in etiologyg of the disease. Apolipoprotein E is a glycoprotein that functions essentially in lipoprotein metabolism as a ligand in binding particularly triglyiceride-rich lipoprotein remnant to low- density lipoprotein (B,E) receptor and hepatic remnant (E) receptor. Apo E gene is polymorphic and its three alleles are defined. Amino acid sequence 112. and 158. of different three isoforms are different, that is important in variation of individuals according to lipoprotein levels. In the patients with hypertriglyceridemia, apo E isoforms have been determined and generally apo 83 and 84 alleles were observed. The determination of apo E polymorphism in the patients with cardiovascular disease is evaluated as an important risk factor for atherosclerosis. A correlation between 83 allel and neurodegenerative Alzheimer disease have been found in many studies. In the present study, the study group included 30 patients with Behcet's disease and 51 healthy control subjects. Their plasma lipid and lipoprotein levels and apo E genotypes were determined. Total cholesterol, LDL-Cholesterol and apo E levels in the patients were found to be significantly higher than those of control group. However the levels of triglyceride, HDL-Cholesterol, apo AI and apo E levels were not significantly different. No significant difference was not found in frequencies of apo E allels 82: 4.8, 83: 78.4 and 84:12.7 in healthy individuals and 82: 10, 83: 73.3 and 84:16.7 in Behcet's disease. Lipid parameters according to Apo E phenotypes were not found statistically different. In conclusion, the frequencies of apo E allel and polymorphysm were not different in Behcet's disease than those in healthy individuals.