2.3. Genetic Analysis

DNA extraction was performed from peripheral blood in agreement with the method described by Lahiri and Nurnberger [18]. The LDLR UTR′3 c.*52 A/G (rs14158), LDLR UTR′3 c.*504 A/G (rs2738465), and LDLR UTR′3 c.* 773 A/G (rs2738466) SNPs were genotyped using 5′ exonuclease TaqMan genotyping assays on a 7900HT Fast Real-Time PCR System according to manufacturer’s instructions (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA, USA). To avoid genotyping errors, 10% of the samples were assayed in duplicate; the results were concordant for all cases.