The influence of the PvuII polymorphism (intron 6) of the lipoprotein lipase (LPL) gene on cord plasma lipid traits was studied in 252 ethnic Chinese and 240 ethnic Indian newborns of Singapore. The allelic frequencies of P+ (presence of the restriction site) were 0.67 and 0.56 in the Chinese and Indian newborns, respectively, similar to their respective adult populations. The genotype distributions at the PvuII site were at Hardy Weinberg equilibrium in both ethnic Chinese (chi2 = 2.0) and ethnic Indians (chi2 = 3.6). Cord blood HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C) levels are higher in newborn Chinese than newborn Indians. In addition, cord blood LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C), apoB, and lipoprotein(a) levels are lower in newborn Chinese than newborn Indians. Both newborn Chinese and Indian male homozygotes for P- allele have higher cord blood LDL-C levels than newborns with the more common P+P+ or P-P+ genotypes. In Chinese male newborns, the LDL-C levels were 0.76 +/- 0.61 mmol/L, 0.53 +/- 0.29 mmol/L and 0.46 +/- 0.25 mmol/L, respectively (p = 0.01). In Indian male newborns, the LDL-C levels were 0.88 +/- 0.35 mmol/L for the P-P- genotype and 0.65 +/- 0.24 mmol/L for the P+P+ genotype (p = 0.003). In addition, the influence of the P- allele on LDL-C levels is remarkably similar in both ethnic groups, accounting for 8.48% of the population variance in the Chinese newborns and 8.09% in the Indian newborns. In contrast, no obvious effect of genotype is seen in this lipid parameter in the newborn females of either ethnic groups. There is presence of significant genotype specific influence on the LDL-C levels in cord plasma in male newborns, suggesting an early expression of the LPL gene locus.