Impact of Remnant Lipoprotein on Coronary Plaque Components

Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) is a useful modality for visualizing atherosclerotic lesions in coronary arteries, not only for the degree of arterial luminal stenosis but also for the plaque composition within the vessel walls. We aimed to determine the relationship between the clinical parameters and coronary plaque characteristics evaluated by IVUS in patients with stable angina under medical treatment.

Plaque measurements within the coronary arteries were collected by coronary angiography and iMAP-IVUS in 40 men with stable angina. The serum remnant-like cholesterol (RemL-C) was measured using homogeneous assays and serum adiponectin and omentin-1 levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays.

The iMAP-IVUS analysis of the coronary arteries demonstrated that the plaque cross-sectional area (CSA) was 11.0±3.5 mm(2). Plaque CSA positively correlated with body mass index and negatively correlated with the serum adiponectin levels. Both areal and volumetric analyses of the plaque characteristics demonstrated that the serum RemL-C level was a positive determinant for %Necrosis and the negative determinant for %Fibrosis of the plaques. Neither serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol nor low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels correlated with the proportion of any plaque components. Additionally, the RemL-C/triglyceride ratio positively correlated with %Lipid significantly in the areal analysis.

Elevation of the serum RemL-C levels in the patients with stable angina may link to coronary plaque vulnerability, which is characterized by high necrotic and low fibrotic components.