Preliminary Evidence for the Association of APOB rs1042034 With Short-Term Statin-Induced Lipid Lowering: An Exploratory Study in Vietnam

Objectives To characterize the rs1042034 allele distribution in Vietnamese adults with untreated hypercholesterolemia and evaluate its impact on baseline lipid profiles and the early lipid-lowering response to rosuvastatin 20 mg. Materials and Methods In this cross-sectional exploratory study, 79 adults with low-density lipoprotein cholesterol LDL-C ≥ 3.4 mmol/L were enrolled and treated with rosuvastatin 20 mg plus lifestyle advice for 3 months. Genotypes were determined by TaqMan real-time PCR with Sanger sequencing validation. Baseline and 3-month lipid panels (LDL-C, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol HDL-C, total cholesterol, non-HDL-C, triglycerides) were measured. Between-group comparisons used Kruskal–Wallis/ANOVA as appropriate; analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) models adjusted for baseline values assessed genotype (TT vs. CT + CC) effects on posttreatment lipids. Multivariable linear regression examined age, sex, and body-mass index as predictors; false discovery rate correction was applied. Results Baseline lipid concentrations did not differ significantly by genotype (overall LDL-C 4.37 ± 0.62 mmol/L; total cholesterol 6.62 ± 0.77 mmol/L). After three months, LDL-C reductions differed markedly by genotype ( P < .001): median absolute reductions were −0.47 mmol/L (TT; fractional −9.7%), −1.12 mmol/L (CT; −28.1%) and −1.28 mmol/L (CC; −29.8%). HDL-C change also differed ( P = .049) with medians 0.09, 0.24 and 0.15 mmol/L for TT, CT and CC, respectively. ANCOVA (adjusting for baseline) showed the TT genotype was independently associated with higher posttreatment LDL-C (β = 0.758; P = .001), lower posttreatment HDL-C (β = −0.121; P = .004), and higher TC (β = 0.482; P = .026) and non-HDL-C (β = 0.566; P = .007); TG was not affected ( P = .751). Conclusions This study provides preliminary evidence that APOB rs1042034 polymorphism significantly influences rosuvastatin efficacy in Vietnamese patients with hypercholesterolemia.