In prior literature, several of the loci have been studied in African-Americans and/or Hispanic-Americans including LDLR, PCSK9, CETP, LPL, and APOA5. Our study supports and builds upon these prior reports. While other variants have been reported in multi-ethnic groups20, we are the first to describe associations of the LDLR intronic SNPs rs6511720 and rs1529729 with LDL cholesterol in a sample including African-Americans and Mexican-Americans. We confirm that rs11591147 (R46L) in the PCSK9 gene is common and decreases LDL cholesterol in whites (minor allele frequency of 3%) but is rare in African-Americans (minor allele frequency of 0.4%).9, 21 As in our study, associations between polymorphisms in the CETP and LPL genes and HDL cholesterol have been consistently reported in cohorts including African American and/or Hispanic subjects.22–24 Finally, we confirm the robust association between APOA5 and triglycerides in all three ethnic groups.25, 26 By reproducing previously reported findings, we demonstrate that our patient sample is representative and that our methods are valid.
