2.1. SNP selection and genotyping analyses. Genomic DNA was prepared from whole blood as previously described [12] . Seventeen APOM SNPs including rs6921907, rs1266078, rs9267528, rs805297, rs4947251, rs9404941, rs805296, rs805264, rs3117581, rs34490746, rs11462733, rs2273612, rs707922, rs707921, rs28432254, rs3132449, rs3178094 enlisted in the NCBI database [13] were selected for genotyoping in the pilot cohort of 198 controls by multiplex reactions using the Mass ARRAY system (Sequenom, San Diego, CA, USA) at the Genome Quebec Innovation Centre, McGill University (Montréal, Quebec, Canada). Six of the seventeen SNPs were confirmed in the pilot cohort: rs1266078(T-1628G), rs805297(C-1065A), rs9404941(T-855C), rs805264(G+203A), rs707922(G+1837T) and rs707921(C+1871A). These six SNPs were further genotyped in the study cohort of 1840 participants (1234 cases and 606 controls). Case and control DNA samples were genotyped in parallel on the same plates. Two hundred ninety one duplicate samples (15.8%) were used to assess intra-plate and inter-plate genotype quality. No genotyping discrepancies were detected. The overall call rate was 98.0%. Five out of the six SNPs (except for rs1266078) were successfully genotyped in the study cohort.