Abstract-Oxidation of low density lipoproteins (LDL) obviously plays an important role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. The purpose of the study was to determine whether antibodies against oxidized LDL are associated with coronary artery disease (CAD). We determined the serum levels of antibodies against copper-oxidized LDL by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 58 patients with angiographically verified CAD and 34 controls without CAD. The mean antibody level, expressed in optical density units, was significantly higher in patients than in controls (0.150Ϯ0.088 versus 0.094Ϯ0.054, respectively; Pϭ0.00089). In logistic regression analysis, high antibody level against oxidized LDL was associated significantly with CAD (Pϭ0.0114), independent of age (Pϭ0.00137), gender (Pϭ0.0021), body mass index (Pϭ0.5947), triglyceride concentration (Pϭ0.9813), and total cholesterol-high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (Pϭ0.0080) group. Similar analysis in nondiabetic subjects (nϭ79) and in men only (nϭ75) showed analogous results, with only minor changes in P values. The antibody level against oxidized LDL differed significantly between nonsmokers and smokers in CAD patients (PϽ0.00197) but not in controls (PϭNS). In addition, the antibody level against oxidized LDL differed significantly between nonsmokers and smokers in subjects with low HDL cholesterol (Յ0.9 mmol/L) but not in subjects with high HDL cholesterol (Ͼ0.9 mmol/L). In conclusion, elevated levels of antibodies against oxidized LDL were associated with CAD. The data suggest that oxidized LDL plays a role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and suggest a protective function for HDL against LDL oxidation.

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APOEepsilon4 allele seems to be associated with decreased inflammatory response as measured by CRP among nonagenarians. This finding may partly explain why some epsilon4 allele carriers can reach very old age despite increased risk of hypercholesterolaemia.

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Serum total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and triglycerides were studied in three groups: (1) 85 healthy subjects aged 85-89 years, (2) 62 patients without coronary artery disease aged 38-62 years, and (3) 323 patients aged 32-69 years with triple-vessel disease diagnosed by coronary angiography. The mean values for total cholesterol were significantly higher in patients with triple-vessel disease than in those without coronary artery disease and in the elderly. Total cholesterol was over 6.5 mmol/l in 32% of the elderly, in 31% of patients without coronary artery disease and in 42% of patients with triple-vessel disease, but these differences were not significant. HDL-cholesterol and the ratio of HDL/total cholesterol were significantly higher in the elderly than in the patients without coronary artery disease and patients with triple-vessel disease. Serum HDL-cholesterol was over 1.0 mmol/l in 92% of the elderly, in 69% of patients without coronary artery disease and in 46% of patients with triple-vessel disease, the differences being significant between all groups.