Apolipoprotein(a) isoforms in infarcted men under 60 years old

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the Lp(a) concentration and the frequency distribution of the apo(a) isoforms of a myocardial infarcted male group under 60 years old and a group of healthy subjects (controls). Methods: A total of 111 infarcted men and 99 men free from disease were enrolled in this study. Lp(a) concentrations were measured by a commercial available rate nephelometry method, and apolipoprotein(a) isoform analysis was performed by sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) polyacrilamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) and immunoblotting. Results: Infarcted patients had higher Lp(a) concentrations (0.33 F 0.36 g/l) than noninfarcted subjects did (0.19 F 0.22 g/l), and these differences were significant ( P = 0.001). Infarcted patients have also shown a greater proportion of elevated (z0.30 g/l) Lp(a) concentrations 37.8% than controls 20.2% ( P b 0.01). The distributions of apo(a) phenotypes for patients with myocardial infarction and controls were remarkably different ( P b 0.001), and the proportions of smaller isoforms were significantly different by chi-square analysis ( P b 0.01). Conclusions: Infarcted patients under 60 years old display higher Lp(a) concentrations and a significantly higher proportion of low molecular weight apolipoprotein(a) isoforms than controls.