Remnant-like particles and coronary artery disease in familial hypercholesterolemia.

BACKGROUND

Although remnant-like particle cholesterol (RLP-C) has been associated with coronary artery disease (CAD) in the general population, few data exist regarding this issue in patients with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH). The aim of our study was to investigate the association between RLP-C and the presence of CAD in patients with FH.

METHODS

We examined 282 patients with FH (144 males, mean age, 41 ± 17 years) whose RLP-C levels were measured. We assessed the baseline characteristics, including lipid levels, other conventional risk factors for cardiovascular events, the presence of CAD, and the serum RLP-C levels.

RESULTS

Serum RLP-C levels significantly correlated with serum triglyceride (TG) levels (Pearson's r = 0.631, p < 0.001). We observed that a larger proportion of individuals in the higher tertiles of serum RLP-C had a larger number of diseased coronary arteries (p < 0.001 for the trend of multi-vessel disease). Logistic regression analysis, after adjusting for age, sex, hypertension, diabetes, smoking, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and lipoprotein (a) [Lp(a)], revealed that RLP-C was significantly associated with CAD [odds ratio (OR): 1.08, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.00-1.16, p = 0.046]; however, adding serum TG levels into the logistic regression model nullified this association (OR: 1.07, 95% CI: 0.98-1.17, p = 0.141), whereas Lp(a) was independently associated with CAD (OR: 1.02, 95% CI: 1.00-1.03, p = 0.015).

CONCLUSIONS

Serum RLP-C levels were significantly associated with the presence and severity of CAD in patients with FH. However, the clinical usefulness of measuring RLP-C levels beyond that of measuring TG levels should be further assessed.