Association between paraoxonase activity and lipid levels in patients with premature coronary artery disease

Background: South Asians, especially Indians show increased risk for atherosclerosis and have the higher mortality rates due to coronary artery disease. The increasing incidence of coronary artery disease in young patients is possibly due to industrialization, stress of life, less exercise and increasing incidence of smoking and other factors. We attempted to determine an independent association of paraoxonase with coronary artery disease in young patients. Method: The lipid profile and serum paraoxonase were investigated,in 120 angiographically-proven premature coronary artery disease patients (99 males and 21 females, all < 45 years) with diabetes mellitus, smoking, hyperlipidemia, obesity, hypertension along with 50 (41 male and 9 female) normal subjects and compared. Results: A significant increase was observed in the concentrations of total cholesterol, triglycerides and LDL cholesterol in premature coronary artery disease patients. The activities of paraoxonase and HDL cholesterol concentrations decreased in coronary artery disease patients compared to control subjects. Conclusion: A paraoxonase was an independent (p < 0.001, OR 14.9 and 95% CI 5.6-35.9) risk factor for premature coronary artery disease patients along with lipid profiles. Paraoxonase activity should be evaluated in all coronary artery disease patients in the absence of traditional risk factors. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.