Association of total iron binding capacity with coronary artery disease

Objective: A case-control study and a meta-analysis were conducted to assess the association between total iron binding capacity (TIBC) and coronary artery disease (CAD) risk. Methods: A hospital-based case-control study was conducted with 258 CAD cases and 282 healthy controls. Logistic regression was utilized to estimate odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) and adjust potential confounders. Dose-response relation was investigated between TIBC and CAD risk by dividing TIBC concentration into quartiles. A meta-analysis was performed on the standardized mean difference (SMD) as well as OR. Results: In our case-control study. TIBC was found associated with decreased CAD risk both in univariate (OR = 0.981, 95% CI = 0.975, 0.986) and multivariate (OR = 0.979, 95% CI = 0.972, 0.986) adjusted logistic regressions. The multivariate-adjusted OR for the highest quartile compared with the lowest quartile was 0.087 (95% Cl = 0.042, 0.181). After sensitivity analysis, the meta-analysis on SMD showed that TIBC was associated with decreased CAD risk (SMD = -0211, 95% CI = -0318, -0.104). The results of pooled measure on OR (OR = 0.970,95% CI = 0.946, 0.995) were consistent with those of SMD analysis. Conclusion: A weak association was found between TIBC levels and decreased CAD risk, further investigations are necessary to clarify the dose-response relationship. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.