Background The extent to which serum lipid levels are affectedby genetic and environmental factors remains a point of controversy.We examined both genetic and environmental influences on serumlipid levels in twins reared either together or apart who participatedin the Swedish Adoption/Twin Study of Aging.
Methods We studied 302 pairs of twins (mean age, 65.6 years;range, 52 to 86); 146 pairs had been reared apart. We simultaneouslycompared the twins on the basis of both zygosity and rearingstatus, which allowed joint estimation of genetic and environmentalinfluences on serum lipid levels. Genetic influence was expressedin terms of heritability, the proportion of the population variationattributable to genetic variation (a value of 1.0 indicatesthat all of the population variation is attributable to geneticvariation). The serum lipids and apolipoproteins measured includedtotal cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, apolipoproteinsA-I and B, and triglycerides.
Results Structural-equation analyses revealed substantial heritabilityfor the serum levels of each lipid measured, ranging from 0.28to 0.78. Comparisons of the twins reared together with thosereared apart suggested that the environment of rearing had asubstantial impact on the level of total cholesterol (accountingfor 0.15 to 0.36 of the total variance). Sharing the same environmentappeared to affect the other lipid measures much less, however,than did genetic factors and unique environmental factors notshared by twins. Comparisons of younger with older twins suggestedthat heritability for apolipoprotein B and triglyceride levelsdecreased with age.
Conclusions The effect of genetic factors on the serum levelsof some but not all lipids appears to decrease with age. Earlyrearing environment appears to remain an important factor inrelation to levels of total cholesterol later in life, but ithas less effect on other serum lipids and apolipoproteins inthe elderly.
Source Information
From the Program in Biobehavioral Health (D.A.H., G.E.M.) and the Center for Developmental and Health Genetics (D.A.H., N.L.P., G.E.M.), College of Health and Human Development, Pennsylvania State University, University Park; the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden (U.F.); the Department of Epidemiology, Institute for Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden (N.L.P.); and the Department of Clinical Chemistry, Umea University Hospital, Umea, Sweden (G.D.).
Address reprint requests to Dr. Heller at the Program in Biobehavioral Health, 210 E. Health and Human Development, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802.
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