| 7 | Genetic Variation and Nutrition显示文摘Advances in genetics and molecular biology indicate that susceptibility to chronic diseases such as coronary artery disease (CAD), hypertension, diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis, alcoholism, cancer, etc., to a great extent is genetically determined. Studies have shown that 50% of the variance in plasma cholesterol concentration is genetically determined, whereas 30% - 60% of the variance in blood pressure is genetically determined. For fibrinogen, an independent risk factor for CAD, 15%-50% of the variance is genetically determined. In the U. K. population the variance for the fibrinogen level is 15% whereas in the Hawaiian population, the variance is 50%, indicating significant differences between populations. Among Australians, 75% of the variance in bone density is found to be genetically determined. Genetic variation influences the response to diet. For example,individuals with ApoE4 have higher cholesterol levels and a higher risk of CAD than those with ApoE3. Additional studies show that women of the ApoE 3/2 phenotype stand to benefit the least from a high polyunsaturate: saturate (P:S) diet because of reduction in the more ’protective’ high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), whereas men of the ApoE 4/3 phenotype showed the greatest improvement in the LDL/HDL ratio. Therefore a general recommendation to increase the polyunsaturated content of the diet in order to decrease the risk for CAD is not appropriate for women with ApoE 3/2 phenotyPe. Thus, specific information is needed to define the optimal diet for an | ARTEMIS P. SIMOPOULOS (Center for Genetics, Nutrition and Health, 2001 S Street, N W.,Suite 530, Washington, D. C. 20009, USA) | 1996 | Biomedical and Environmental Sciences1996,9,2: | 0 |