Autoantibodies against oxidized low density lipoprotein in patients with angiographically verified coronary artery disease

Oxidation of low density lipoproteins (LDL) obviously plays an important ro le in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. The purpose of the study was to determine whether antibodies against oxidized LDL are associated with coron ary artery disease (CAD). We determined the serum levels of antibodies agai nst copper-oxidized LDL by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 58 patients with angiographically verified CAD and 34 controls without CAD. The mean a ntibody level, expressed in optical density units, was significantly higher in patients than in controls (0.150+/-0.088 versus 0.094+/-0.054, respecti vely; P=0.00089). In logistic regression analysis, high antibody level agai nst oxidized LDL was associated significantly with CAD (P=0.0114), independ ent of age (P=0.00137), gender (P=0.0021), body mass index (P=0.5947), trig lyceride concentration (P=0.9813), and total cholesterol-high density lipop rotein (HDL) cholesterol (P=0.0080) group. Similar analysis in nondiabetic subjects (n=79) and in men only (n=75) 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 (P<0.00197) b ut not in controls (P=NS). In addition, the antibody level against oxidized LDL differed significantly between nonsmokers and smokers in subjects with low HDL cholesterol (less than or equal to 0.9 mmol/L) but not in subjects with high HDL cholesterol (>0.9 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.