To investigate the effect of elevated serum lipoprotein (a)[kLp (a)]land other risk factors on the progression of abdominal aortic atherosclerosis, 104 subjects (76 men and 28 women), ranging from 27 to 82 years old were prospectively examined by angiography. The subjects were clinically suspected of having a cardiovascular disease. Moreover, we determined their coronary index using the modified Balcon's method and their aortic “elongation ratio” using a method developed by us and examined the association between these parameters and abdominal aortic atherosclerosis.
The subjects were divided into two groups based on the results of abdominal aortography. Fifty eight subjects showed normal abdominal aortography (normal group). While 46 subjects showed abnormal abdominal aortography (abnormal group). There was a significant difference in age between the two groups, so we also examined the correlation between Lp (a) and age.
There was no correlation between Lp (a) and age.
We examined the impact of coronary index, elongation ratio and risk factors, inculuding serum Lp(a), total cholesterol, triglycerides, ApoB/ApoA-I ratio, RLP cholesterol, smoking, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and hyperuricemia in both groups.
Furthermore, we performed a logistic regression analysis using abdominal aortic atherosclerosis as the dependent variable and risk factors, including age, male sex, total cholesterol, triglycerides, Lp (a), ApoB/ApoA-I ratio, RLP cholesterol, smoking, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and hyperuricemia, as the independent variables. No significant correlation was observed between Lp (a) and age. The levels of serum Lp (a) were significantly higher in the abnormal group than in the normal one. The coronary index was significantly higher in the normal group. No significant difference between the two groups was observed with regard to the other variables. By logistic regression analysis, serum Lp (a) and age were significant by predictors of abdominal aortic atherosclerosis (p=0.0194 and p=0.0003, respectively). Our results suggest that elevated serum levels of Lp (a) and age are independent risk factors for abdominal aortic atherosclerosis.
