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Saturday, December 1, 2007


South-to-North gradient in lipid peroxidation in men with stable coronary artery disease in Europe
European Heart Journal 2007 28(23):2841-2849

A South-to-North gradient across Europe exists for the incidence of coronary artery disease (CAD) rates. Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) oxidation is a hallmark of atherosclerosis and CAD development. The aim of our study was to determine whether differences exist in the degree of LDL oxidation in stable CAD patients from different regions of Europe.

Alcohol intake and lipid profile were significantly associated with oxLDL. The Italian participants had the highest oxLDL levels. A sensitivity analysis showed the models yielded higher adjusted oxLDL values in Northern (63.8 U/L) than in Central (57.6 U/L) and Southern populations (56.5 U/L), P <> Italian subjects. The probability of Southern Europe scoring the lowest oxLDL levels was >71% in all fitted models.

Our findings suggest a gradient in LDL oxidation from Southern to Northern Europe that consistently holds for all levels of LDL, except for Italy; this country displays the highest levels in Europe, for unknown reasons.

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