Loreta Bagdonaitė
Oxidized Low-Density Lipoproteins - Factor of Atherogenesis and Marker of Atherosclerosis
Loreta Bagdonaitė, Zita Aušrelė Kučinskienė, Vilma Dženkevičiūtė
The aim of this work was to investigate the biochemical markers of atherosclerosis associated with inflammatory/oxidative process and metabolic changes in the blood of coronary heart disease (CHD) patients and their first-degree relatives and to make the comparative analysis in order to evaluate prognostic significance of biochemical markers of atherosclerosis.
Materials and methods. According to the protocol biochemical markers and clinical instrumental evaluation of anatomical changes in the vessel wall, 30 patients (mean age - 47 years) with a history of diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome without the acute stage of the disease, and 30 (mean age - 52 years) their first-degree relatives were studied.
Results. The evaluation of changes of in flam ma tion and met a bolic mark ers showed the higher concentration of atherogenic biochemical markers (hypercholesterolemia, oxidized low-density lipoproteins, C reactive protein) in the first-degree relatives group (which can be explained by genetic predisposition of atherosclerosis). A statistically significant increase of oxidized low-density lipoprotein and cholesterol were estimated in the group of relatives. Results suggested a strong link between oxidized LDL and cholesterol me- tab olism and their in volvement in atherogenesis. It showed a special importance of oxidation processes in atherogenic dyslipidemia and inflammation. After the clinical and instrumental examination of blood vessels in the above study groups atherosclerotic changes were detected.
Conclusions. Therefore, a complex of markers of lipid metabolism, inflammation, and oxidative activity (especially oxidized LDL) are recommended to assess the progression of atherosclerosis in asymptomatic individuals with CHD in order to investigate family history, and to individualize treatment.
Keywords: atherosclerosis, inflammation, coronary heart disease, oxidation.