Plasma lipid peroxide concentrations were measured in 100 patients with occlusive arterial disease proved angiographically (50 patients with ischaemic heart disease, 50 with peripheral arterial disease) and compared with values in 75 control patients with no clinical evidence of atherosclerosis. Lipid peroxide concentrations were significantly higher in patients both with ischaemic heart disease (median 4-37 iimol/l (interquartile range 3-85-5-75 [tmol/l); p<0-001) and with peripheral arterial disease (median 4-37 [smoltl (3-88-5-21 [mol/l); p<0001) than in controls (median 3-65 [tmol/l (interquartile range 3-29-3-89 [mol/l)).Overall there was a significant but weak correlation between plasma lipid peroxide and plasma triglyceride concentrations (r,=0-25; p<0-001) but not between plasma lipid peroxide and plasma total cholesterol concentrations. Furthermore, hypertension, obesity, diabetes, smoking, positive family history, and intake of fi blockers and thiazide diuretics were not associated with significant differences in lipid peroxide values.This study provides clinical support to experimental data indicating that peroxidised lipids may be important in atherogenesis and its complications and also suggests that peroxidised lipids may provide an index of the severity of atherosclerosis.Thrombosis Research

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A 76-yr-old female with acute pancreatitis and a normal/borderline elevated serum calcium level was found to have an elevated immunoreactive circulating PTH concentration using a C-terminal assay. This high PTH concentration misled the attending physicians and resulted, in retrospect, in an unnecessary neck exploration. When the patient's serum was examined it was found to contain a binding component that bound both C-terminal and PTH-(1-84). This binding component was not retained on a Sep-Pak column and was precipitated by antiserum directed against human immunoglobulin M. The presence of circulating anti-PTH immunoglobulin M explains the apparently high PTH concentrations measured by RIA. The antibodies occurred spontaneously. To the best of our knowledge, this phenomenon has not previously been described.