Lpl. Vandevijver et al., AUTOANTIBODIES AGAINST MDA-LDL IN SUBJECTS WITH SEVERE AND MINOR ATHEROSCLEROSIS AND HEALTHY POPULATION-CONTROLS, Atherosclerosis, 122(2), 1996, pp. 245-253
Autoantibodies against oxidized low-density lipoprotein (LDL) have bee
n reported to be associated with atherosclerosis. However, data are no
t consistent. We compared the titres of autoantibodies to malondialdeh
yde-modified LDL in three groups, a case group with angiographically d
ocumented severe coronary stenosis (> 80% stenosis in at least 1 vesse
l, n = 47), a hospital control group with minor stenosis on the corona
ry angiography (< 50% stenosis in all three major vessels, n = 47) and
a healthy population control group with no history of coronary heart
disease (n = 49). Age ranged from 26 to 68 years. Subjects were freque
ncy-matched for gender distribution and storage time of the blood samp
les. No relevant differences in autoantibody titre between case and co
ntrol groups were found. The mean autoantibody titres (+/- S.D.) were
1.44 +/- 1.82, 1.46 +/- 1.40 and 1.62 +/- 1.95 for cases, hospital con
trols and population controls, respectively. No correlations were foun
d between autoantibody titre and age, number of cigarettes smoked and
LDL or total cholesterol. Autoantibody titres were correlated with bod
y mass index (r = 0.2) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) (r = - 0.2).
Odds ratios (OR) were calculated by tertiles of autoantibody titres f
or the hospital control group and the population control group, respec
tively. Age-adjusted OR (95% confidence interval) for medium and high
compared to low autoantibody titre were 0.76 (0.27-2.14) and 1.09 (0.3
9-2.95) for the comparison between cases and hospital controls and 1.0
9 (0.39-3.07) and 0.90 (0.32-2.56) for the comparison between cases an
d population controls. Adjustment for gender, body mass index, smoking
habits and HDL yielded essentially the same results. This study does
not support an association between autoantibody titres to oxidized LDL
and the extent of coronary stenosis.