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Effect of ageing on plasma lipoprotein(a) levels
Harukuni Akita1, Miyao Matsubara, Hitoshi Shibuya
1Department of Laboratory Medicine, Hokkaido University School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan.
Background:
Lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] is a risk factor for atherosclerosis and increases with age. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of ageing on Lp(a) for three different apo(a) phenotypes.
Methods:
We measured plasma Lp(a) concentrations in 551 unrelated Japanese subjects (20-88 years of age). We performed statistical analyses separately for three apo(a) phenotypes: the low-molecular-weight (LMW) phenotype with the F, B or S1 isoform, the intermediate-molecular-weight (IMW) phenotype with the S2 isoform and the high-molecular-weight (HMW) phenotype with the S3 or S4 isoform.
Results:
For each phenotype, the mean plasma Lp(a) concentration and the frequency of Lp(a) concentrations > or = 250 mg/L increased with age. Further, a statistically significant difference was always found between the younger subjects (20-39 years of age) and the elderly (over 60 years). The frequency of coronary heart disease increased with age, particularly for the LMW and IMW phenotypes.
Conclusions:
We conclude that ageing elevates plasma Lp(a) concentrations, which may have a role in the prevalence of coronary heart disease in the elderly, especially those with the LMW or IMW phenotypes.