Abstract
Objectives
The aim of the study was to test the hypothesis that circulating markers of inflammation
(high-sensitive C-reactive protein, hsCRP) and oxidative modification of lipids (oxidized
low-density lipoprotein, oxLDL) were associated with the occurrence of echolucent
rather than echogenic femoral artery plaques in a cross-sectional population based
cohort of 513, 61-year-old men.
Background
The relationships between circulating oxLDL, hsCRP and the occurrence of echolucent
plaques in the femoral artery have not previously been investigated.
Methods
The levels of circulating oxLDL and hsCRP were determined in plasma by ELISA. Plaque
occurrence, size and echogenicity were measured by B-mode ultrasound in the right
femoral artery. Assessment of plaque echogenicity was based on the classification
(grades 1–4) proposed by Gray-Weale et al.
Results
A higher frequency of echolucent femoral plaques was observed in subjects with the
metabolic syndrome and current smokers (p = 0.01 and p < 0.001, respectively) as well as with increasing levels of oxLDL and hsCRP (p = 0.002 and p = 0.005, respectively). In a multiple logistic regression analysis oxLDL and current
smokers turned out to be independent associated with the presence of echolucent femoral
artery plaques.
Conclusions
The results of the present study support our hypothesis that circulating oxLDL is
a marker of an unstable echolucent plaque phenotype in the femoral artery in man.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: February 22, 2006
Accepted:
January 17,
2006
Received in revised form:
January 16,
2006
Received:
July 24,
2005
Identification
Copyright
© 2006 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
