Statins Linked to Rise in Some Oxidized Biomarkers

However, change in these levels not linked to changes in atheroma volume

TUESDAY, June 24 (HealthDay News) -- The use of statins in individuals with coronary obstructions leads to increases in oxidized phospholipids on apolipoprotein B-100 particles (OxPL/apoB) and malondialdehyde epitopes on apoB particles (MDA/apoB), though these aren't associated with changes in atheroma volume, according to research published in the July 1 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Seung Hyuk Choi, M.D., of the Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine in Seoul, Korea, and colleagues analyzed data from 214 subjects who underwent assessment of biomarkers of oxidized low-density lipoprotein (OxLDL). These were measured before and after subjects took atorvastatin or pravastatin for 18 months. Patients also underwent coronary angiography and intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) at baseline and 18 months.

Levels of OxPL/apoB, MDA/apoB, and lipoprotein(a) levels all rose 14 to 48 percent in the atorvastatin group and 14 to 39 percent in the pravastatin group, the researchers report. However, both statins were associated with reductions in total IgG and IgM apoB immune complexes and IgM OxLDL autoantibodies. The researchers didn't find correlations between OxLDL biomarkers and atheroma volume.

"The change in OxLDL biomarkers levels did not predict changes in quantitative coronary angiography (QCA) parameters or coronary atheroma volume. These findings may simply reflect the fact that these OxLDL biomarkers do not reflect QCA or IVUS measured changes in atheroma burden in response to statins," the authors write. However, "changes in these biomarkers may represent the entire atherosclerotic process, which may not be entirely reflected in the coronary arteries, that would compose a very small portion of atherosclerotic burden."

The study was supported by Pfizer and the Fondation Leducq. Two of the study co-authors are named on a patent related to antibodies to oxidized LDL owned by the University of California, and two others are Pfizer employees. Envision Pharma helped develop the figures in the study.

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