The study analyzed DNA from frozen blood samples to investigate new candidate gene targets that provided insights into the abnormalities characterizing this population of Turks. The samples and extensive biodata were available on all 10,000 participants. In Specific Aim 1, the investigators identified polymorphisms in acyl CoA:diacylglycerol acyltranferase (DGAT)- I and -2 and in ATP-binding cassette A I (ABCA I) genes that were associated with differences in BMI, HDL-C, and triglyceride concentration, and other parameters such as blood pressure. These studies focussed significantly on promoter and coding sequence polymorphisms in DGAT-I and -2 and ABCAL In Specific Aim 2, the investigators determined whether the polymorphisms had functional significance by using a luciferase reporter system to determine expression of polymorphic forms of DGAT and ABCAI, a cholesterol efflux measurement to determine the functional significance of ABCAI coding sequence polymorphic sites, and a triglyceride synthesis assay to determine the functional significance of DGAT-I and -2 polymorphic sites. The polymorphic site association studies were performed on DNA samples from three subgroups of Turks: (a) individuals likely to have the metabolic syndrome, (b) individuals with isolated low HDL-C (normal triglycerides), and (c) normolipidemic unaffected controls.