Association of lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides with the severity of coronary artery disease in men and women

The differences between the lipid profiles of male and female patients and the effect of plasma lipids on the extent of coronary artery disease were evaluated in 122 angiographically assessed coronary artery disease patients (95 males and 27 females) and 60 controls. Both male and female patients had lower HDL-cholesterol and higher total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, triglyceride, VLDL-cholesterol and VLDL-triglyceride concentrations than the controls. The VLDL lipid values did not differ significantly between the male patients with different extent of CAD, whereas the VLDL lipid values of female patients tended to increase with an increasing severity of CAD. High Lp(a) (greater than or equal to 35 mg/dl) values were more prevalent in patients with > 50% coronary stenosis compared to patients with < 50% stenosis and the controls (29%, 17% and 12%, respectively). The apolipoprotein E phenotypes and epsilon allele frequencies were similar in the patients and the controls. Low HDL-cholesterol and high LDL-cholesterol are CAD risk factors for both sexes. For women, elevated VLDL-triglycerides seem to be an additional risk factor for CAD.