Lipoprotein immune complexes as markers of atherosclerosis.

Recently we have demonstrated that cholesterol level in LDL-containing circulating immune complexes (CIC cholesterol) correlates with the presence of coronary atherosclerosis. In the present study we attempted to clarify whether CIC cholesterol level correlates with the severity of coronary atherosclerosis. The second task was to reveal the diagnostic value of CIC cholesterol in comparison with other lipid and lipoprotein parameters used as markers of dislipidaemia associated with atherosclerosis. The subjects were 107 patients with angiographically-documented coronary atherosclerosis and 66 patients with documented extracoronary atherosclerosis. Only CIC cholesterol and the apo B/apo A-1 ratio contributed strongly to the discrimination between patients with coronary atherosclerosis and those without stenoses. On the other hand, total cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL cholesterol, apo B, Lp[a] and apo A1 did not correlate with the presence and severity of coronary atherosclerosis. Subjects with stenosis of extracoronary arteries had significantly higher CIC levels than healthy donors. Sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of coronary atherosclerosis diagnosis were assessed for each parameter examined. It was revealed that CIC cholesterol is the most reliable marker of coronary atherosclerosis as compared to other chemical parameters. In addition, the CIC cholesterol level diagnoses extracoronary atherosclerosis with high accuracy.