RESUMEN
Lipoprotein [a] LP[a] consists of two components: LDL particle and apo[a] molecule, which resembles plasminogen. Many studies found that high levels of LP[a] are considered as an independent risk factor of atherosclerotic disease, whereas others did not find this correlation. 203 healthy Syrian subjects were recruited for the study. They were divided into 8 groups according to geographic and ethnic distribution as follows: 35 from Damascus and mid Syrian, 24 from Sauida, 22 from Hasakee, 28 from Palestinian refugee camp, 21 from Der El-Zor, 29 from Syrian coast, as for the ethnic group they were 22 from Kurds, 22 from Sarkasian. LP[a] level was determined by ELISA method. Whereas apo[a] phenotyping was performed by Electrophoresis on SDS-Agarose Gel 1, 5%. No significant differences in LP[a] levels among the 8 groups were found. Whereas there was a significant difference in apo[a] phenotype [applying Utermann et aL, 1998] among different groups. We found that the group from Hasake had the highest percentage of apo[a] phenotype with high molecular weight [HMW], which makes them the least of the 8 groups susceptible to Cardiovascular disease [CVD]. Whereas in the ethnic group of Kurds the low molecular weight [LMW] apo[a] prevailed which makes them the most group susceptible to [CVD]