[Fatty acid composition of plasma lipids in hyperlipidemia associated with ischemic heart disease]

The authors compared plasma lipid and lipoprotein values and the fatty acid composition in plasma lipids of a group of 38 men with primary hyperlipoproteinaemia (HLP) type II B and IV with a history of myocardial infarction (IM) and in a control group of 63 men with the same type of HLP without a history of ischaemic heart disease (IHD). Hyperlipidaemic subjects after IM differed from controls by the apolipoprotein (apo) B concentration in LDL lipoproteins and by the composition of fatty acids in plasma phosphatidylcholine (PC) and triglycerides (TG). In the discriminating function which makes it possible in the given group of patients to classify correctly hyperlipidaemic subjects after IM and without detectable IHD the independent variables are apo-B concentration in LDL, apo-A-I in plasma, eicosapentaenoic acid in TG, gamma-linolenic acid in cholesterol esters and stearic and oleic acid in PC. These findings confirm the practical value of assessment of apolipoproteins for detection of hyperlipidaemic subjects with a specially high risk of IHD and indicate also the role of essential FA in the pathogenesis of IM.