C5 variant is associated with decreased risk of coronary artery disease in outpatients with severe hypercholinesterasemia.

Objective: Although the C5 variant of cholinesterase is known to be a cause of hypercholinesterasemia, the pathophysiological significance of the C5 variant and the C5 variant-related hypercholinesterasemia in cardiovascular diseases remain unclear. The present study aimed to clarify the pathophysiological significance of the C5 variant as a risk or protective factor for coronary artery disease (CAD) in patients with severe hypercholinesterasemia.

Methods: Severe hypercholinesterasemia was defined as serum cholinesterase (ChE) activity >= 450 IU/L (>= 2.0 SD). We screened 11,648 consecutive outpatients between 2005 and 2011 at Toho University, Sakura Medical Center. In patients with severe hypercholinesterasemia, phenotyping of the C5 variant was conducted using polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and alpha-naphthyl butyrate staining.

Results: 157 subjects (1.4% of 11,648 outpatients screened) were diagnosed with severe hypercholinesterasemia (mean serum ChE activity 574 ± 109 IU/L), and the frequency of the C5 variant was 45.2%. Subjects with the C5 variant had higher age, lower body mass index, milder dyslipidemia and liver dysfunction, and lower rates of hypertension and CAD compared with subjects without the C5 variant. Multivariate logistic regression model demonstrated that the presence of C5 variant independently lowered the risk of CAD, with odds ratio 0.071 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.007 - 0.763, p = 0.029).

Conclusion: The prevalence of the C5 variant was relatively high, and the C5 variant is associated with decreased risk of CAD in outpatients with severe hypercholinesterasemia.