Serum lipid profile in patients with acute myocardial infarction

Serum lipids and lipoproteins were estimated in 29 patients with acute myocardial infarction during acute phase (day 1,2,3), predischarge and after three months. Serum total lipids, total cholesterol (TC) and LDL-cholesterol (LDLc) showed no significant change during the hospital stay and three months followup. HDL-cholesterol (HDLc), however, started falling from day 2 onwards with statistically significant reduction at pre-discharge and remained so at 3 months. The ratios of TC/HDLc and LDLc/HDLc showed significant increase on predischarge day as compared to day 1. Serum triglycerides also showed an increasing trend after myocardial infarction with a significant increase on day 3 and predischarge as compared to day 1. it is concluded that the optimum time for assessment of serum lipid profile in patients with myocardial infarction seems to be within 24 hours of the acute episode.     

Study of magnesium,glycosylated hemoglobin and lipid profile in diabetic retinopathy

The present study was undertaken in 100 subjects, 30 diabetics without complication (group I), 40 diabetics with retinopathy (group II) and 30 non diabetic as normal control group (group III). Blood sugar levels, magnesium, cholesterol and triglyceride were analyzed from plasma and serum. The results were correlated with degree of diabetic control from the levels of glycosylated hemoglobin. Serum magnesium levels in group II were found to be significantly lowered than in group I. There was also significant difference in magnesium levels of group I and group III. We found a significant correlation between the glycosylated hemoglobin and magnesium levels in our study. The results also indicate that the patients with diabetic retinopathy showed significant rise in serum cholesterol and triglyceride. Probably hypomagnesemia and increased serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels are responsible for microvascular changes in diabetes leading to retinopathy. The purpose of this study was thus to gather information about the degree of control of diabetes and magnesium status.     

Serum Lp(a) in diabetics with and without evidence of clinical nephropathy—A preliminary study

Type 2 diabetes is associated with a marked increase in the risk of coronary artery disease. Dyslipidaemia is believed to be a major cause of this increased risk. Recently, elevated levels of lipoprotein (a), Lp(a), have been reported to be associated with an increased risk. However there is very little data regarding Lp(a) concentrations and type 2 diabetes from India. The objective of the study was to assess serum Lp(a) levels in type 2 diabetics with and with out evidence of clinical nephropathy. We estimated serum Lp(a) levels in 30 control subjects, 30 diabetics without evidence of clinical nephropathy and 30 diabetics with evidence of clinical nephropathy. Statistical analysis showed that Lp(a) levels were increased in diabetic patients with nephropathy (mean 46.3±17.6 mg/dl). The Lp(a) levels however did not differ significantly between control (mean 20.2±15.9 mg/dl) and diabetics without nephropathy (mean 22.6±13.1mg/dl). Thus diabetes per se seems to have little or no influence on serum Lp(a) levels, however elevated levels were seen in patients with nephropathy.     

Serum lipoprotein (a) and lipid profile in young South Indian patients with myocardial infarction

Coronary artery disease is now a major health problem in India. In past few decades the battle to reduce the incidence of coronary artery disease has led the researchers to look for various clinical markers, which would help early diagnosis of the diseases. The present study was undertaken to assess the level of lipoprotein (a) [Lp(a)] and few other lipids in selected myocardial infarction (MI) patients below 45 years without having any traditional risk factors but with positive family history. Fasting blood samples were taken from 65 patients and their total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, VLDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, triglycerides and serum Lp(a) were determined. The control group consisted of 50 age matched healthy individuals. The mean Lp(a) level was 58.6±3.20 mg/dl in patients and 19.70±0.18 mg/dl in controls. Thus Lp(a) levels were found significantly higher in patients with MI (p<0.05 for patients versus control) as compared to the controls. There was no significant difference in the levels of total cholesterol (TC), LDL, VLDL HDL, TGL as compared to controls but there was an increase in TC/HDL cholesterol ratio. The results of this study suggest that high level of Lp(a) and TC/HDL ratio has a distinctive association with MI, independent of other common coronary risk factors. Hence, Lp(a) level in serum emerges to be a promising marker for diagnosis of coronary artery diseases.     

Serum lipid profile and lipoprotein lipase activity in patients of ischaemic heart disease

Total lipids, cholesterol, phospholipids, free fatty acids, total glycerides and lipoprotein lipase (LPL) activity of 26 patients of Ischaemic Heart Disease (IHD) and similar number of age and sex matched control individuals were studied to find out abnormality in lipid metabolism. Incidence of IHD was more common amongst males as compared to females. Significant low levels of serum LPL activity and higher levels of other parameters was thus evident in patients of IHD and this may explain the altered lipid metabolism and hypertriglyceridemia in patients of IHD.     

Study of lipid peroxide and lipid profile in diabetes mellitus

The study was designed to find out the correlation between lipid peroxidation, lipoprotein levels to severity and complication of diabetes mellitus. Degree of lipid peroxidation was measured in terms of malondialdehyde (MDA) along with lipid profile and blood glucose in diabetes mellitus. It is categorised into insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM), non insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) and diabetes mellitus(DM) with complication. Total 112 known diabetic patients and 52 non-diabetic controls were studied. These patients were grouped as per the concentration of fasting blood glucose level i.e. controlled, poorly controlled, and uncontrolled group. There are significant increase in the lipid peroxide (MDA) and lipid profile except HDL cholesterol which is decreased, has been found in all groups as compared to controls In NIDDM group lipid peroxidation was markedly increased than IDDM group and it was higher in DM with complications. Other finding observed was that the level of lipid peroxide increased as per the increase in concentration of blood glucose. The increase lipid peroxidation in the hyperglycemic condition may be explained, as the superoxide dismutase enzyme which is antioxidant becomes inactive due the formation of superoxide radical within the cell. Maximum lipid peroxidation leads to the damage of the tissue and organs which results into complication in diabetic patients. High levels of total cholesterol appear due to increased cholesterol synthesis. The triglyceride levels changes according to the glycemic, control. The increase may be due to overproduction of VLDL-TG. It is concluded that good metabolic control of hyperglycemia will prevent in alteration in peroxidation and the lipid metabolism, which may help in good prognosis and preventing manifestation of vascular and secondary complication in diabetes mellitus.     

Effect of immobilisation stress on lipid peroxidation and lipid profile in rabbits

Stress is one of the basic factors in the aetiology of a number of diseases such as atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease, aging, liver disease etc. Hence this work was designed to study the effect of stress in the form of forced immobilisation stress on lipid peroxidation and lipid profile in rabbits. The study was conducted in 25 healthy rabbits of either sex. Rabbits were subjected to forced immobilisation for two hours everyday for consecutive seven days. Blood samples were collected on day 1, 3 and 7 after immobilisation period. Malondialdehyde (MDA), a marker of lipid peroxidation was estimated by TBA assay method. Lipid profile was analysed by multichannel autoanalyser. There was statistically significant increase in MDA, total cholesterol, LDL, VLDL and triglycerides with immobilisation. These findings indicate that stress in the form of forced immobilisation increases lipid peroxidation and alter lipid profile, which may be responsible for pathophysiology of various diseases.     

Oxidant status and lipid profile in vegetarians and fish eaters

Habitual consumption of moderate amounts of fish is associated with reduced mortality from coronary heart disease. However the beneficial effects of fish enriched diet seem contradictory, due to the susceptibility of the PUFAs in them to oxidation. It is also acclaimed that vegetarians in general, have a lower serum total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol and a better antioxidant status. This contradiction was the basis for the study, where the validity of the above finding was tested in a general population consuming a vegetarian or predominantly fish diet as a regular dietary habit. The oxidant status and the lipid profile of 23 vegetarians and 22 fish eaters was studied by estimating the plasma lipid peroxides measured as malondialdehyde (MDA) and the lipid parameters viz. Total Cholesterol (TC), HDL-Cholesterol (HDL-C) and triglycerides (TG). Statistical analysis was carried out to compare the MDA values and the lipemic status between the two groups. MDA was also correlated with the various lipid indices among the study groups. None of the compared and correlated values was statistically significant, although certain altered trends were seen. From this study, it may be concluded that oxidant status and lipid profile does not vary significantly in the two groups, suggesting that neither a vegetarian diet nor a fish diet has a definite benefit over the other.     

Relationship of plasma homocysteine with lipid profile parameters in ischemic heart disease

The present study was undertaken to explore the relationship of plasma homocysteine with other biochemical parameters in ischemic heart disease. Plasma levels of total homocysteine was measured by HPLC—fluorescence detection with internal standard in 60 ischemic heart disease patients and were compared with 30 age matched normal healthy controls. The significant increase of plasma homocysteine was observed in both myocardial infarction and chronic stable ischemic heart disease patients when compared with the controls. The hyperhomocysteinemia appears be to due to increased body demand of vitamins such as folic acid, vitamin B₁₂, B₆, B₂ either alone or in combination to regulate normal homocysteine metabolism.     

Effect of aerobic exercise on lipid profile in dogs

20 male dogs weighing 20–25 kg were assigned an exercise schedule for 2 months. Blood samples were collected before exercise and again at the end of the exercise schedule, thus each dog served as its own control. Physical exercise caused a significant reduction in total lipids, total cholesterol and low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, whereas unesterified cholesterol (UC), high density lipoprotein (HDL) and very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) cholesterol remained unaffected. However, the ratio of HDL cholesterol to LDL cholesterol raised significantly from 0.36±0.01 to 0.58±0.01. Aerobic exercise also resulted in an increase in creatinine phosphokinase (CPK) level. The results show that aerobic exercise programme can significantly affect serum cholesterol and lipoprotein concentration.     

Study of serum lipid profile in pregnancy induced hypertension

Four groups of subjects: normal healthy normotensive nonpregnant women (Group A), normal normotensive pregnant women (Group B), women with preeclamptic toxaemia (Group C) and eclamptic women (Group D): with fifty subjects in each group, were investigated for serum lipid profile in the third trimester of pregnancy. There was significant increase in serum triglyceride and VLDL cholesterol leve as well as decrease in LDL cholesterol in normal pregnancy, while total cholesterol and HDL cholesterol levels did not show any statistically significant alteration. The preeclampsia (Group C) was associated with a significant rise in triglyceride and VLDL cholesterol and fall in HDL cholesterol concentration, while eclamptic women showed significant fall in HDL cholesterol and rise in LDL cholesterol as compared to normal pregnant women. However, interestingly, elevation of the ratios of total cholesterol: HDL cholesterol and triglyceride: HDL cholesterol as well as diminuition of the ratio of HDL cholesterol: VLDL cholesterol showed statistical significance in pregnancy induced hypertension in both Groups C and D, while eclamptic women showed significant elevation of LDL cholesterol: HDL cholesterol ratio in addition.     

Serum fructosamine in a random group of adult onset diabetics of Indian subpopulation

Serum fructosamine (SFRC) was estimated using single colour reading procedure in 50 normals and 160 adult onset random diabetics. Serum fructosamine levels were observed to be 1.86±0.321 m moles/L (Range 1.0 to 2.4) and 3.44±0.671 (Range 2.0 to 5.7) in normal and diabetic subjects respectively. Serum fructosamine levels as determined by the method adapted, were found to be unaffected by a transient rise in serum glucose levels during an oral glucose tolerance test. Significantly elevated SFRC concentration was also seen in diabetic groups in spite of different combinations of antidiabetic treatment. Attempts to correlate SFRC with duration and secondary complications of diabetes did show significant elevation in all the groups irrespective of duration and complications thus indicating poor glycemic control.     

Glycosylated proteins and serum lipid profile in complicated and uncomplicated NIDDM patients

In the present study, 58 diabetic patients (type II) comprising uncomplicated (27) and complicated (31) cases along with 38 healthy matched controls were investigated for glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA₁), glycosylated serum proteins (GSP) and serum lipid profile viz. triacylglycerol, total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C), VLDL-C, LDL-C and their ratios. HbA₁ and GSP were significantly elevated in diabetic group as a whole when compared with controls (p<0.01), but comparison of mean values of complicated and uncomplicated group revealed (though higher in complicated) that the difference between two groups was not statistically significant (p>0.05). Follow-up studies showed that while GSP levels reflect variations in blood glucose over a shorter period of 15 days, those of HbA₁ do so for about 3 months. HbA₁ correlated with fasting blood glucose (p<0.01), whereas GSP showed correlation with both fasting (p<0.01) and postprandial (p<0.05) blood glucose. Hypercholesterolemia and hypertriacylglycerolemia were observed (p<0.01) in both the groups. However no significant change was seen in HDL-C (p>0.05) even after accounting for sex in both the groups. Interestingly TC:HDL-C was elevated significantly (p<0.01) in the above groups. These findings seem to suggest that at the levels of hyperglycemia, hypercholesterolemia and hypertriacylglycerolemia observed, some patients are prone to develop complications earlier.     

Effect of felodipine on the serum lipid profile of patients with hypertension

Forty patients suffering from mild to moderate degree of hypertension were put on felodipine. Their lipid profile was analysed before the start of their therapy and consecutively at two and four months after starting felodipine. There was a statistically significant fall in the levels of serum cholesterol, serum triglycerides and serum total lipids; though no appreciable variation was observed in HDL and LDL cholesterol levels. At baseline there were a few patients who had higher than the normal range of the serum lipid profile. Analysis of these patients showed a highly significant fall in the levels of serum cholesterol, serum triglycerides, serum LDL-cholesterol and serum total lipids i.e. felodipine modified the lipid profiles of hypertensive patients in a positive way.     

Stimation of reference interval of lipid profile in Assamese population

12hrs fasting samples of 1485 apparently healthy, Assamese population in the age group of 20–80 yrs., mostly from the urban area of Assam were tested for serum lipid profile that includes total cholesterol, triacylglycerol, high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and very low density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C) over a period of three years. The values (median and range in mg/dl) obtained were 170 (93–263); 110 (40–256); 40 (23–73); 103 (40–173) and 22 (8–51) respectively. After grouping these subjects according to the age and sex no significant difference were observed between most of the groups. Median and upper range of total cholesterol, HDL-C and LDL-C were found to be higher in women than in men in all the age groups. But triacylglycerol and VLDL-C concentrations were observed to be higher in the men than women except in age group of 61–70 yrs. It can be suggested that lipid values obtained in this study can be used as the reference value, based on which clinical correlation can be made.     

Cartap and carbofuran induced alterations in serum lipid profile of Wistar rats

Wistar rats of 6–8 weeks in age weighing between 120–150 g were exposed to the fixed doses of each of the carbamate pesticides such as cartap (50% LD₅₀) and carbofuran (50% LD₅₀) as well as a combination of these two with 25% LD₅₀ of each for one week. The effect of treatments was studied in terms of serum lipid parameters such as high-density lipoprotein, total cholesterol, triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein and very low-density lipoprotein. Treatment with individual doses of carbofuran (50% LD₅₀) and cartap (50 % LD₅₀) caused significant alterations in the levels of serum lipid parameters. The pesticides treatment resulted in marked decrease in the level of serum high-density lipoprotein where as that of other lipids got significantly elevated. Further, the rats exhibited relatively higher impact of pesticides when treated with the compounds in combination (25 % LD₅₀ of each). The results indicated that these compounds when used together may exert enhanced effect on the levels of serum lipids in rat.     

Study of lipid profile from RIQAS quality control sample

The laboratory of the present author is a participant of Randox International Quality Assessment Scheme (RIQAS). The author receives twenty six samples for thirty nine general chemistry analysis per year, reports of which are to be sent fortnightly. Amongst thirty nine analytes there are partial lipid profile parameters like total cholesterol and triglycerides. So, the author decided to run a pilot study of full lipid profile from these samples. At the first phase four samples from two different cycles were considered as test materials. The reports of these samples were quite satisfactory. The trial run was given for fifteen consecutive days. (Presented by the author in the Annual Conference of ACBI, 2004). The success of trial runs for fifteen days proved that EQA samples from RIQAS may be used for full lipid profile analysis. Results were compared against Randox internal quality control samples (IQA) and were found to be accurate and reproducible.     

Correlation between serum lipid profile and carotid intima-media thickness in Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome

Abnormal lipid profile is often found in women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. To assess the impact of abnormal lipid profile on atherosclerosis in young Polycystic Ovary Syndrome women, carotid intima-media thickness as judged by B-mode ultrasonography were done in 30 young (18–35 yrs) Polycystic Ovary Syndrome women and in similarly age-matched 30 apparently healthy controls. Compared to controls, young Polycystic Ovary Syndrome women had significantly elevated serum total cholesterol, triglyceride and LDL-C levels and carotid intima-media thickness. HDL-C level did not differ significantly between two groups of women. In Polycystic Ovary Syndrome women carotid intima-media thickness was positively correlated with serum total cholesterol, triglyceride and LDL-C and negatively correlated with serum HDL-C. Our study suggests that even young Polycystic Ovary Syndrome women are prone to atherosclerosis from early age.     

Serum dehydroepiandrosterone and lipid peroxides in human volunteers of different age groups

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the changes in serum dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and lipid peroxide levels during ageing in human subjects. Random blood samples were collected from a total of 128 apparently normal human volunteers of both sexes, whose age ranged between 21–70 years. The subjects were divided into groups of a decade years of age difference. Serum levels of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), lipid peroxides as malondialdehyde (MDA), and insulin were analysed in all the subjects recruited in the study. In the present study there was decrease in serum DHEA levels with age (11.30 to 7.99 ng/ml). However the differences were significant only after 50 years up to 70 years. Serum MDA levels of these subjects were higher (3.91 to 4.74 ng/ml) as compared to the values reported earlier (2.64 to 3.94 ng/ml). The serum MDA levels also showed an increasing trend with age but the increase was significant only in the 40–50 years age group and values plateaud off at later ages. The MDA and DHEA levels in women in general were lower than in men and this could be due to female hormones, which are known to protect lipid against peroxidation. There was a significant negative correlation between age and DHEA (r=−0.311 P<0.05) and positive correction between MDA and age (r=+0.405 P<0.01). No significant differences were seen in serum insulin, albumin and total protein levels. These preliminary findings support the possible utility of DHEA and MDA as markers for chronological ageing.