In this study, Nelbach et al. tested the effect of apolipoprotein (apo) AV deficiency and overexpression on plasma triglyceride levels and lipoprotein particle size. Apo AV overexpression was studied in transgenic mice overexpressing the human APOA5 gene and apo AV deficiency was studied in apoA5-/- mice. Apo AV overexpressing mice had considerably reduced levels of VLDL particles, which were characterized by a decreased particle size, as opposed to apoA5-/- mice, in which VLDL catabolism was considerably decreased. According to the authors, the increased VLDL concentrations observed in apoA5-/- mice are likely due to the decreased efficiency of lipoprotein lipase activity in the absence of apo AV. Based on these results, the authors hypothesized that overexpression of apo AV is closely associated with the regulation of triglyceride storage, which may suggest a positive link between apo AV and triglyceride levels.
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