Blood serum atherogenicity and coronary artery calcification.

The phenomenon of blood serum atherogenicity was described as the ability of human serum to induce lipid accumulation in cultured cells. The results of recent two-year prospective study in asymptomatic men provided the evidence for association between the changes in serum atherogenicity and dynamics of carotid intima-media thickness progression. The present study was undertaken to test the hypothesis that blood serum atherogenicity and its changes in dynamics may be associated with accumulation of coronary calcium in subclinical atherosclerosis. It was performed in 782 CHD-free participants of The Heinz Nixdorf RECALL (Risk Factors, Evaluation of Coronary Calcium and Lifestyle) Study, in whom blood samples have been taken at the baseline and at the end of 5-year follow-up. Opposite to the previous findings, the changes in serum atherogenicity did not correlate neither with the extent of coronary artery calcification, nor with the changes in Agatston CAC score. There was a moderate but significant rise in serum atherogenicity after 5-year followup period, and the same dynamics was observed for Agatston CAC score, but not for convenient lipid-related risk factors. The absence of association of the changes in serum atherogenicity with the changes in Agatston CAC score, along with previous findings, provides a point of view that serum-induced intracellular cholesterol accumulation is not related to the processes of calcium deposition in arterial wall, since the last one reflects the progression of already existing subclinical atherosclerotic lesions.

Population-based assessment of subclinical coronary atherosclerosis using electron-beam computed tomography.

AIMS: Coronary artery calcification (CAC) is determined as a measure of the extent of coronary atherosclerosis and can be used for expanded cardiovascular risk stratification. It was our aim to establish reference CAC scores in a population-based unselected European cohort. METHODS AND RESULTS: The Heinz Nixdorf Recall study (HNR) recruited a total of 4814 participants aged 45-74 years. Cardiovascular risk factors and medications were recorded, and CAC was measured using electron-beam CT (EBCT). CAC score distribution was compared with previous studies in subjects who were self-referred, volunteered, or were physician-referred. Of the 4472 (92.9%) subjects free of clinical coronary artery disease, the CAC score was available in 4275 (95.3%) (2027 men, 2248 women). CAC scores were lower in particular in the higher age groups (> or = 60 years) in men than in the previous studies. Also, in most age groups (except the highest, 70-74 years), subjects with no cardiovascular medications had significantly lower CAC scores than subjects using cardiovascular medications. CONCLUSIONS: The current report characterises the distribution of EBCT-derived CAC scores in a European unselected population. Compared with previous reports, CAC scores were lower in our cohort, in particular in subjects not receiving cardiovascular medications. Classification of the CAC score may underestimate true risk if previously published referral cohorts are used as the reference.