In a mice study, insulin suppressed apolipoprotein A-V (apoA-V) gene expression in a dose dependent manner. Thus, we investigated the association between apoA-V levels and dyslipidemias in obese children with hyperinsulinemia.

The subjects were 17 obese children (15 male, 2 female) aged 11.8±2.4 years. Total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLC), triglyceride (TG), apoA-V and insulin levels were determined.

Obese children with hyperinsulinemia had greater percent overweight, higher TG level, lower HDLC level and lower apoA-V level than those without hyperinsulinemia. In simple regression analysis, apoA-V level correlated negatively with TG (r=−0.613, p=0.0152) and insulin levels (r=−0.566, p=0.0279), and positively correlated with HDLC (r=0.811, p=0.0002). In stepwise regression analysis, insulin level emerged as the independent determinant of TG level after apoA-V level was taken into account, whereas apoA-V emerged as the independent determinant of HDLC level after adjusting for insulin level.

Insulin may be a potent regulator of serum apoA-V level in obesity, and apoA-V level may partly contribute to the development of obesity-associated dyslipidemia.