Evaluation of association between atherogenic index of plasma and intima-media thickness of the carotid artery for subclinic atherosclerosis in patients on maintenance hemodialysis.

Incidence of cardiovascular diseases in the patients having chronic kidney disease (CKD) is between 25% and 60%. This increased rate is proposed to be associated with "accelerated atherosclerosis." Increased carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) is a subclinical atherosclerosis marker. Small-dense low-density lipoprotein particles are a strong risk factor for atherosclerosis. It was shown that atherogenic index of plasma (AIP = log(TG/HDL-c)) is correlated with size of the lipoprotein particles. We investigated the correlation between AIP and CIMT which is a subclinical atherosclerosis marker, in hemodialysis (HD) patients. A total of 62 persons with 31 patients under HD therapy and 31 volunteers were included in the study. In all the participants, CIMT was measured and AIP were calculated. AIP and CIMT values of the participants were compared with blood pressures, lipid profiles and the other risk factors. AIP (0.39 ± 0.32) and CIMT (0.57 ± 0.13) were found significantly higher in the patient group than in the controls (0.04 ± 0.36 and 0.45 ± 0.119, respectively); (P = 0.0001 and 0.0001, respectively). There was a significant correlation between AIP and increased CIMT in the patient group (P = 0.0001, r = 0.430). Among the lipid parameters, the strongest correlation was found between CIMT and AIP. We demonstrated the significant increase of AIP and CIMT in HD patients. A correlation was found between AIP and CIMT. AIP was found to show a correlation with a greater number of risk factors, both classical and CKD specific, than CIMT. These data suggest that AIP might be a method which can be used both in diagnosis of subclinical atherosclerosis and in deceleration processes of its progression.