title: Increased leukocyte aggregation in patients with hypercholesterolaemia.
abstract: Leukocyte aggregation induced by N-formylmethionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (FMLP) has been measured in a group of patients with hypercholesterolaemia (n = 22) and in a group of control subjects (n = 26), age- and sex-matched. When hypercholesterolaemic patients were divided into two groups, with a discriminatory level of 7.7 mmol/l of plasma cholesterol, FMLP-induced leukocyte aggregation of patients with greater than 7.7 mmol/l of plasma cholesterol was significantly higher compared both with control subjects and patients with plasma cholesterol levels less than 7.7 mmol/l. A positive significant correlation was found between leukocyte aggregation and plasma cholesterol, whereas no correlation was observed between leukocyte aggregation and plasma triglycerides or APO-B levels. These findings provide further support for the hypothesis that elevated plasma cholesterol levels may induce a cellular membrane abnormality responsible for the increased leukocyte aggregation and, subsequently, endothelial damage.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001055:Apolipoproteins B / Q000097:blood; D002449:Cell Aggregation; D002648:Child; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006937:Hypercholesterolemia / Q000097:blood*; D007962:Leukocytes / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D001055:Apolipoproteins B; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL; D014280:Triglycerides; D002784:Cholesterol