Plasma lipid peroxides in coronary heart disease

The relation between plasma lipid peroxide and coronary heart disease was investigated at Harapan Hospital in Kita Jakarta. Ninety-eight patients (83 males and 15 females), below 75 years old were included in the study. The samples consisted of 47 cases with angina and 22 cases with myocardial infarction which were proven to suffer from coronary atherosclerosis by the presence of clinical symptoms, ECG abnormalities, angiography and myocardial enzyme measurement. Controls were patients who did not show any abnormalities in the parameters used. Controls and patients were classified into several groups based on the presence or absence of risk factors (smoking, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, obesity, family history). The results of the study showed that plasma lipid peroxide in patients with angina and myocardial infarction which were 3.26 +/- 1.07 mumol and 3.20 +/- 0.82 mumol/l, respectively, were significantly higher (p less than 0.05) than controls 2.50 +/- 0.45 mumol/l. There was no differences in total cholesterol, LDL and triglyceride contents between control and patients with coronary heart disease; whereas HDL cholesterol level was significantly higher in the patients with angina, 38.7 +/- 10.5 mg/dl vs 31.5 +/- 6.76 mg/dl in patients with myocardial infarction. Univariate analysis of various risk factors revealed a strong correlation between plasma lipid peroxide and the chance in developing coronary heart disease. The present study showed that plasma lipid peroxide was increased in coronary heart disease and that it might be used as a determinant in the assessment of the severity of the disease. An investigation on the effects of antioxidants in these patients is planned.