Low serum glutathione peroxidase activity is associated with increased cardiovascular mortality in individuals with low HDLc's.
BACKGROUND
Since oxidized LDL is thought to initiate atherosclerosis and the serum glutathione peroxidase (GPx3) reduces oxidized lipids, we investigated whether high GPx3 activity reduces cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality.


METHODS
We determined GPx3 in stored samples from the Minnesota Heart Survey of 130 participants who after 5 to 12 years of follow-up had died of CVD and 240 controls. Participants were 26 to 85 years old and predominantly white. In a nested case-control, study we performed logistic regressions to calculate odds ratios (OR) adjusted for age, sex, baseline year, body mass index, smoking, alcohol intake, physical activity, total and HDL cholesterols, systolic blood pressure, serum glucose and gamma glutamyltransferase (GTT) activity. The referent was the quartile with the highest GPx3 activity (quartile 4).


RESULTS
OR's for CVD mortality for increasing quartiles of GPx3 were 2.37, 2.14, 1.83 and 1.00 (P for trend 0.02). This inverse correlation was confined to those with HDLc's below the median (P for interaction, 0.006). The OR's for increasing quartiles of GPx3 in this group were 6.08, 5.00, 3.64 and 1.00 (P for trend, 0.002).


CONCLUSIONS
Individuals with both low HDLc and GPx3 activity are at markedly increased risk for death from CVD.
Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States of America.
Brian
B
Buijsse
Duk-Hee
DH
Lee
Lyn
L
Steffen
Richard R
RR
Erickson
Russell V
RV
Luepker
David R
DR
Jacobs
Jordan L
JL
Holtzman
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000401:mortality*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000097:blood*; D005979:Glutathione Peroxidase / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged
D008076:Cholesterol, HDL; D005979:Glutathione Peroxidase