Predictive Value of Oxidized Low-Density Lipoprotein/β₂-Glycoprotein-I Complexes (oxLDL/β₂GPI) in Nonautoimmune...

Lipid oxidation is a definite feature of atherosclerosis, and oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL) is not only highly immunogenic but toxic to several cell types. Beta-2-glycoprotein-I (β₂GPI) dampens oxLDL toxicity by forming binary oxLDL/β₂GPI complexes. We evaluated whether circulating oxLDL/β₂GPI complexes are associated to atherosclerosis-related events (ARE) and to venous thromboembolism (VTE).

In a cross-sectional case-control study, cases were (a) 57 consecutive patients (male/female [M/F] 33/24, mean age 57 [10] years) attending a thrombosis unit for ARE (myocardial infarction [MI] n = 20, peripheral vascular disease n = 7, and ischemic strokes n = 30); (b) 52 consecutive patients (M/F 22/30, mean age 55 [17] years) attending the same unit for unprovoked (VTE); (c) normal controls comprised 90 participants (M/F 35/55, mean age 41 [15] years); and (d) oxLDL/β₂GPI complexes were measured by immunoassay and resulting levels divided into quartiles.

The odds ratio (OR) of ARE was greater in the fourth and second quartiles than in the first quartile (8.5 and 6.0, respectively); the OR of developing MI was greatest in the fourth quartile (17.8). By multivariable analysis with age, sex, smoking, lipid status, statin, and ARE phenotypes as independent variables and oxLDL/β₂GPI as the dependent variable, only MI predicted oxLDL/β₂GPI ( P < .0001).

OxLDL/β₂GPI may be regarded as a marker of ARE, in particular of MI.