Title:Blood Serum Atherogenicity and Coronary Artery Calcification
Volume: 20
Issue: 37
Author(s): Igor A. Sobenin, Veronica A. Myasoedova, Elena V. Anisimova, Xenia N. Pavlova, Stefan Mohlenkamp, Axel Schmermund, Rainer Seibel, Sina Berenbein, Nils Lehmann, Susanne Moebus, KarlHeinz Jockel, Alexander N. Orekhov and Raimund Erbel
Affiliation:
Keywords:
Subclinical atherosclerosis, serum atherogenicity, intracellular cholesterol accumulation, coronary artery calcification, lipids,
biomarkers.
Abstract: The phenomenon of blood serum atherogenicity was described as the ability of human serum to induce lipid accumulation in
cultured cells. The results of recent two-year prospective study in asymptomatic men provided the evidence for association between the
changes in serum atherogenicity and dynamics of carotid intima-media thickness progression. The present study was undertaken to test
the hypothesis that blood serum atherogenicity and its changes in dynamics may be associated with accumulation of coronary calcium in
subclinical atherosclerosis. It was performed in 782 CHD-free participants of The Heinz Nixdorf RECALL (Risk Factors, Evaluation of
Coronary Calcium and Lifestyle) Study, in whom blood samples have been taken at the baseline and at the end of 5-year follow-up. Opposite
to the previous findings, the changes in serum atherogenicity did not correlate neither with the extent of coronary artery calcification,
nor with the changes in Agatston CAC score. There was a moderate but significant rise in serum atherogenicity after 5-year followup
period, and the same dynamics was observed for Agatston CAC score, but not for convenient lipid-related risk factors. The absence of
association of the changes in serum atherogenicity with the changes in Agatston CAC score, along with previous findings, provides a
point of view that serum-induced intracellular cholesterol accumulation is not related to the processes of calcium deposition in arterial
wall, since the last one reflects the progression of already existing subclinical atherosclerotic lesions.
