TOXIC TRACE-ELEMENT CONTENT OF CORONARY-ARTERY PLAQUES

In this study, toxic trace element content of 16 coronary artery plaqu es obtained from 16 patients with coronary artery disease was analyzed and possible correlations were investigated between toxic trace eleme nts and major component contents of coronary artery plaques. In this r egard, meaningful correlations were established between some parameter s. In particular, the correlations between nickel and major components of the coronary plaques were noteworthy. Coronary artery plaques prim arly consisted of 76.1% fibrous protein, 6.1% total lipid, 1.1 total c holesterol and 5.5% calcium. Lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), nickel (Ni) and aluminium (Al) concentrations in the plaques were 16.5 +/- 9.6, 3.1 +/ - 1.3, 22.9 +/- 18.3 and 23.8 +/- 11.5 ppm, respectively.