title: Association of coronary artery ectasia with plasma insulin levels in Japanese men of heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia with the low-density lipoprotein receptor gene mutation K790X.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hyperinsulinemia is widely believed to be an important coronary risk factor. We investigated the effect of plasma insulin levels on the development of coronary ectasia in Japanese men with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (FH).
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study was conducted in 20 FH men with the LDL receptor mutation (K790X) [age 42.3+/-2.8 years old, body mass index (BMI) 24.6+/-0.7 kg/m2, total cholesterol (TC) 8.68+/-0.36 mmol/l, triglycerides (TG) 1.76+/-0.23 mmol/l, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) 0.977+/-0.065 mmol/l]. Subjects with diabetes mellitus were excluded. Plasma insulin levels, either fasting or during oral glucose tolerance test, were compared between subjects with and without coronary artery ectasia.
  
  
  RESULTS
  FH subjects with coronary ectasia had significantly higher fasting plasma insulin levels than those without (12.6+/-1.4 vs. 7.7+/-0.5 mU/l; p<0.05). Also, plasma insulin levels during oral glucose tolerance test tended to be higher in the former than in the latter.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Plasma insulin level could be an important determinant of the development of coronary artery ectasia in Japanese heterozygous FH men.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Kanazawa University Graduate School of Medical Science, 13-1 Takara-machi, Kanazawa, Ishikawa, 920-8640, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Murase
authors.forename: Kunimasa
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yagi
authors.forename: Junji
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nohara
authors.forename: Akimichi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Asano
authors.forename: Junji
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Koizumi
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mabuchi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D044466:Asian People; D023921:Coronary Stenosis / Q000097:blood* / Q000209:etiology*; D005951:Glucose Tolerance Test; D006579:Heterozygote; D006801:Humans; D006946:Hyperinsulinism / Q000150:complications*; D006938:Hyperlipoproteinemia Type II / Q000150:complications* / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009154:Mutation; D011973:Receptors, LDL / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D011973:Receptors, LDL