To investigate the usefulness of serum lipids and apolipoproteins as indices of risk factors for coronary artery disease (CAD) and to know the effects of regular exercise on the serum lipids and apolipoproteins, we measured the serum lipids and apolip...
To investigate the usefulness of serum lipids and apolipoproteins as indices of risk factors for coronary artery disease (CAD) and to know the effects of regular exercise on the serum lipids and apolipoproteins, we measured the serum lipids and apolipoproteins in the patients with coronary artery disease, athletes and normal control persons. The study subjects included 67 patients with CAD (57. 8±11.2yr), 22 athletes (21.5±2.1yr) and 62 normal control persons (34.3±11.4yr). 1) In the patients with CAD the serum total cholesterol (TC) was 177. 2±38.5 mg/dl and the HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C) was 39.0±11.2mg/dl. In the normal control persons TC was 162.5±33.5 mg/dl and HDL-C was 42.4±12.6mg/dl, which were not significantly different from the values of CAD patients. 2) The serum apolipopratein A (Apo-A) was significantly lower (201.9±39.6mg/dl, p<0.05), and the apolipoprotein B (Apo-B) was significantly higher (132.3±29.7 mg/dl, p<0.05) in the patients with CAD, compared with normal control persons (age over 40 years; Apo-A: 246.3±39.9 mg/dl, Apo-B: 117.9±26.4 mg/dl). 3) The TC/HDL-C ratio and Apo B/A ratio were significantly higher (4.9±1.6, 0.67±0.17, p<0.005 for TC/HDL-C ratio and p<0.05 for Apo B/A ratio) in the CAD patients compared with normal control persons (age over 40 years; 3.6±1.1, 0.49±0.10). 4) The TC/HDL-C ratio ≥4.0 and Apo B/A ratio ≥0.55 were the good discriminating criteria separating the CAD patients from the normal control persons. 5) In the athletes, the serum triglyceride (TG) was significantly lower (65.7±20.7mg/dl, p<0.001), and the HDL-C was significantly higher (57.8±11.2 mg/dl, p<0.001) compared with normal control persons (age under 30 years; TG; 119.8±94.3 mg/dl, HDL-C: 44.6±11.0mg/dl). The Apo-A, Apo-B, TC/HDL-C ratio and Apo B/A ratio were all significantly lower (p<0.01) compared with those in the normal control persons. 6) Among the athletes, the HDL-C was highest and the TG was lowest in the swimmers compared with fencing players and wrestlers. The Apo B/A ratio and TC/HD1-C ratio were better discriminating indices of risk factors for CAD compared with individual lipids or apolipoprotein values. The Apo-A and Apo-B were considered to be good indices of risks for CAD. The athletes had lowest risks for CAD.