Determinants of lipoprotein(a) levels in a middle-aged working population.
BACKGROUND
The association between blood lipids, apolipoproteins, fibrinogen, life-style-related factors and lipoprotein(a) was assessed in a cohort of middle-aged men.


METHODS
Male employees, working in local industry, were invited to participate in a health survey at their worksite. After exclusion of nine persons with prevalent diabetes and 14 subjects with a history of myocardial infarction or angina, data were available on 720 healthy Caucasian men.


RESULTS
Lipoprotein(a) concentration was measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and distribution was found to be highly skewed with a median level of 9 mg.dl-1 (mean level 23.1 mg.dl-1). The percentage of subjects with lipoprotein(a) levels higher than 30 mg.dl-1 was 23.6%. Univariate analysis showed a significant association between lipoprotein(a) and age, total cholesterol, apolipoprotein B and fibrinogen. However, no relationship was found with body mass index, waist to hip ratio, smoking, blood pressure, alcohol consumption, diet, HDL cholesterol, apolipoprotein AI and apolipoprotein E concentration or apolipoprotein E polymorphism. In multivariate analysis, In-transformed lipoprotein(a) correlated positively with apolipoprotein B (P < 0.0001) and fibrinogen (P = 0.004). Proportional changes in lipoprotein(a) concentration were predicted in relation to specified changes in biochemical and lifestyle variables. A 20 mg.dl-1 increase in apolipoprotein B and a 75 mg.dl-1 increase in fibrinogen levels were estimated to increase lipoprotein(a) concentration by 29.4% and 21.5% respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
Our data confirm the existence of an independent association between lipoprotein(a) and fibrinogen and give evidence for correlation with apolipoprotein B.
Braeckman
L
L
Department of Public Health, University Gent, Belgium.
De Bacquer
D
D
Rosseneu
M
M
De Backer
G
G
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001055:Apolipoproteins B / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D001530:Belgium; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000097:blood* / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005340:Fibrinogen / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007221:Industry; D008074:Lipoproteins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors
D001055:Apolipoproteins B; D008074:Lipoproteins; D005340:Fibrinogen