Dušan Černohorský

Bioanalysis of PUFA metabolism and lipid peroxidation in coronary atherosclerosis

Twenty eight men (age 34-77 years) who underwent an elective coronary angiography for coronary artery disease (CAD), were studied. They were divided into group A (luminal narrowing < 50%; n = 11) and group B (luminal narrowing > 50%; n = 17). Capillary gas chromatography was used for determination of fatty acids. Retinol and alpha-tocopherol were analyzed by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), other parameters were determined spectrofluorometrically and spectrophotometrically. Severe coronary atherosclerosis in group B was associated with higher serum low density lipoprotein/high density lipoprotein (LDL/HDL) cholesterol ratio, triacylglycerols, and phospholipids (P < 0.05). Erythrocyte membrane fatty acids C14:0, C16:1 and C22:6n3 were significantly higher in group B (P < 0.05). We found significantly higher plasma polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) C18:3n6 in group B, whereas plasma linoleic acid was not changed significantly. There was a significant increase of IDL-C18:0, LDL-C14:0 and HDL-C22:6n3 PUFA in group B. We conclude that disturbances in saturated fatty acids (SUFA) and PUFA metabolism are associated with coronary atherogenesis. Such abnormalities may include enhanced extrahepatic transport of C14:0 SUFA via LDL and its incorporation into cell membranes, and enhanced clearance of anti atherosclerotic C22:6n3 PUFA via serum HDL.

Fluorometric assay of lipoperoxides and chromatographic analysis of α-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.