Related Experiment Videos
An index predicting coronary heart disease: LDL/HDL x 5
S Kimata1, S Hosoda, I Yokoyama
1Tokyo Women's Medical College, Aoyama Hospital, Japan.
Insights
A new index, LDL/HDL x 5, shows promise in predicting coronary heart disease events like angina and re-infarction. This indicator proved more sensitive than traditional cholesterol measures in study participants.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Biochemistry
Background:
- Atherosclerosis is driven by the balance of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol.
- LDL transports cholesterol to artery walls, while HDL removes it.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate a novel index, LDL/HDL x 5, as a predictor of coronary heart disease.
- To assess its efficacy in primary and secondary prevention populations.
Main Methods:
- Calculated the LDL/HDL x 5 index for participants in a medical examination system.
- Compared the index's predictive power against total cholesterol, LDL, and HDL for effort angina.
- Evaluated the index in myocardial infarction patients to predict re-infarction.
Main Results:
- The LDL/HDL x 5 index was more sensitive in predicting effort angina than total cholesterol, LDL, or HDL.
- Patients with myocardial infarction (AMI) exhibited significantly lower HDL concentrations.
- The LDL/HDL x 5 index demonstrated higher sensitivity in predicting re-infarction compared to traditional markers.
Conclusions:
- The LDL/HDL x 5 index is a potentially valuable tool for predicting coronary heart disease.
- This index may improve risk stratification for both primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular events.
Abstract:
Atherosclerotic changes in the coronary artery are exacerbated by the balance between LDL, which carries cholesterol into the arterial wall, and HDL, which carries it out from the wall. The molecular weight of LDL is about 2 x 10(6) and that of HDL is about 4 x 10(5), which is almost 1/5 of the molecular weight of LDL. For this reason, LDL/HDL x 5 should be a good indicator of coronary heart disease. We evaluated this index in two subject groups. At first, we determined whether it could predict the incidence of effort angina in participants of a medical examination system. Most of the subjects were healthy and good candidates for primary prevention. LDL/HDL x 5 was a more sensitive index predicting effort angina than total cholesterol, LDL or HDL. The concentrations of HDL were significantly lower in myocardial infarction patients at all ages in both sexes. The average serum concentration of HDL was 56.6 +/- 15.0 mg/dl in the medical examination group and 38.9 +/- 12.2 mg/dl in the AMI group. We tested whether our new index, LDL/HDL x 5, could predict the incidence of re-infarction in patients with myocardial infarction who were candidates for secondary prevention. LDL/HDL x 5 was a more sensitive index predicting re-infarction than total cholesterol, LDL or HDL.