Porcine von Willebrand disease and atherosclerosis. Influence of polymorphism in apolipoprotein B100 genotype.

The relationship of apolipoprotein-B genotype (Lpb) to diet-induced hypercholesterolemia and atherosclerosis was studied in von Willebrand disease (vWD) and normal pigs. Von Willebrand and normal pigs developed comparable levels of hypercholesterolemia (respectively, 757.9 +/- 49.4 versus 772.8 +/- 47.9 mg/dl, P = 0.95). Pigs with Lpb1/5 and Lpb5/8 genotypes, however, developed significantly higher serum cholesterol levels than those with other Lpb genotypes (866.1 +/- 64.0 mg/dl, P = 0.0343). Coronary and aortic atherosclerosis, measured by computer-assisted automated image analyzer, were not significantly different between vWD and normal pigs. Pigs with an Lpb5 allele developed significantly more atherosclerosis than those with the Lpb3/8 or Lpb8/8 genotypes or the rare Lpb1 allele (r greater than or equal to 0.434, P less than or equal to 0.05). Polymorphism in apolipoprotein B100 genotype, then, significantly influenced the severity of diet-induced hypercholesterolemia and atherosclerotic plaque formation in vWD and normal swine without regard to the vWD genotype.