The association between blood glucose and oxidized lipoprotein(a) in healthy young women

Several cardiometabolic variables and serum oxLp(a) (using an ELISA system) were measured among 70 healthy females (mean age, 22 years).Lp(a) and glucose were significantly and positively correlated with oxLp(a) in simple correlation test. Furthermore, a multiple linear regression analysis showed oxLp(a) to have a weakly, but significantly positive and independent correlation with only blood glucose (β = 0.269, P < 0.05).These results suggest that increased glucose may enhance the oxidization of Lp(a) even at normal glucose levels.Oxidized lipoproteins, such as oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL), are involved in the atherosclerotic processes [1]. Lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)) contains low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-like moieties, in which the apoB-100 component is covalently linked to the unique glycoprotein apolipoprotein(a) (apo(a)), and it is also a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) [2,3]. Oxidized Lp(a) (oxLp(a)) has been observed in human atherosclerotic sites in arteries and blood [4]. Earlier experimental studies have shown that oxLp(a) can add specific atherogenic properties to native Lp(a) [5-10]. On the other hand, there are few clinical studies on oxLp(a) [4,11,12].This is, in part, due to the lack of specific assays that can be easily used in clinical settings. A few different ELISA systems to detect circulating oxLp(a) have been reported with limited clinical findings [4,11,12]. In one assay system developed by us, complicated hypertensives showed higher serum oxLp(a) levels than normotensives, despite the fact that there was no difference in native Lp(a) levels between hypertensives and normotensives [4]. In another assay system, the patients with end-stage renal disease treated with continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis demonstrated higher plasma oxLp(a) levels than those without renal disease [11]. In an additional assay system, the CVD patients exhibited higher plasma levels than the healthy volunteers [12]. Taken together experimental