Fluorometric assay of lipoperoxides and chromatographic analysis of alpha-tocopherol and fatty acids as biomarkers of risk from coronary atherosclerosis

There has been growing interest in the quantitative determination of biochemical predictors of atherogenesis. The aim of the present study was to investigate association of lipoperoxidation biomarkers known to be pro-atherogenic (thiobarbituric acid reactive substance activity, TBARS) or anti-atherogenic (alpha-tocopherol) with the fatty acid status, and relate it to the coronary artery disease (CAD) as assessed by coronary angiography in patients with stable angina pectoris. We found that serum lipoproteins and TBARS did not differ significantly. However there was significant correlation of TBARS with total vitamin E (P=0.02) and vitamin E in very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) (P=0.02) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) (P=0.01), with LDL-linoleic acid (P=0.01), and high-density lipoprotein-linoleic acid (P=0.02). There was significant correlation of total vitamin E (P=0.01) and VLDL-vitamin E (P=0.01) with the degree of CAD. We conclude that TBARS and alpha-tocopherol could not be evaluated as biomarkers for the severity of CAD among the patients with stable angina pectoris.