RELATIONSHIP OF SERUM FERRITIN CONCENTRATIONS WITH METABOLIC CARDIOVASCULAR RISK-FACTORS IN MEN WITHOUT EVIDENCE FOR CORONARY-ARTERY DISEASE

Elevated serum ferritin concentrations between 200 and 500 mu g/l have been found to be a strong risk factor for acute myocardial infarction in Finnish men, but the reason for this association is still uncertai n. In the Finnish population ferritin concentrations correlated with f actors of insulin resistance syndrome. As these factors have been foun d to be associated with an LDL subfraction phenotype of increased conc entrations of small, dense LDL particles, we hypothesized an associati on between ferritin and an atherogenic LDL subfraction profile, a find ing which could be an explanation for the observed relationship betwee n ferritin and atherosclerosis. Therefore we determined serum ferritin levels, metabolic cardiovascular risk factors, and the LDL subfractio n phenotype in 93 healthy men without signs for infection or coronary heart disease; We found that men with moderately elevated ferritin lev els (200-500 mu g/l; n = 31) had a significantly worse coronary risk p rofile than men with lower levels (< 200 mu g/l; n = 62). Elevated fer ritin concentrations were associated with significantly higher values for serum triglycerides, VLDL cholesterol, VLDL apolipoprotein B (P < 0.01), IDL cholesterol, fasting glucose (P < 0.05) and uric acid (P < 0.01), and lower levels for HDL2b and HDL2a cholesterol and apolipopro tein A-I (P < 0.05), and lipoprotein(a) (P < 0.01). Elevated ferritin levels were, however, not associated with an unfavourable LDL subfract ion profile of increased concentrations of small, dense LDL particles. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.