Abstract: Objective To investigate the relationship between the polymorphism of Apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene and SYNTAX score in the elderly patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) in Nanjing. Methods A total of 109 patients diagnosed as CAD by coronary angiography (CAG) were enrolled. The complexity of CAD of all the patients was assessed by SYNTAX score, and the genotype of ApoE was detected by polymerase chain reaction. Results The patients were divided into three groups according to the gene phenotype of ApoE. Among them, 22, 71 and 16 patients were identified with the genotype of ApoE2, ApoE3 and ApoE4. The mean value of SYNTAX score of the patients with ApoE2, ApoE3 and ApoE4 was 7.75±7.62, 14.77±9.52 and 15.53±7.14, respectively. The SYNTAX score of ApoE3 group and ApoE4 group was both significantly higher than that of ApoE2 group (P<0.05), while there was no significant difference in SYNTAX score between ApoE3 group and ApoE4 group. Conclusions The elderly patients with the genotype of ApoE3 or ApoE4 have higher SYNTAX score than those with the genotype of ApoE2, suggesting that ApoE3 and ApoE4 may be related with the complexity of CAD.

Key words: coronary artery disease, apolipoprotein E, SYNTAX score, aged