Plasma lipid and apolipoprotein profiles of women with two types of peripheral arterial disease.

The purpose of this study was to establish whether women with peripheral arterial disease can be distinguished from controls on the basis of plasma lipid and apolipoprotein profiles. One group of patients with peripheral arterial disease (n = 20) was characterized by a localized aortic stenosis referred to as the 'small aorta syndrome' (SAS). The other group of patients with peripheral arterial disease (n = 23) had a diffuse segmental pattern of stenoses referred to as the 'stenosing peripheral arterial disease' (SPAD). After correcting for the effects of age and body mass index, the SAS group had elevated plasma total cholesterol (TC) levels when compared to normal controls (P less than or equal to 0.008), while the SPAD group had triacylglycerol (TG) levels different from controls (P = 0.02). Both groups of patients were characterized by reduced levels of apolipoprotein A-I (P less than or equal to 0.04) and increased levels of apolipoprotein C-III (P less than or equal to 0.002). Apolipoproteins B and E were also elevated in both groups of patients but not significantly. Mutivariate analyses indicated that the A-I/C-III ratio correctly discriminated 97.8% of the SAS and the A-I/C-III ratio plus A-I discriminated 89.8% of the SPAD patient from the controls. In addition, multivariate analyses showed that the variables age, TC/Apo B, Apo B/C-III and TG/C-III discriminated SPAD from SAS patients with a correct classification of 93.2%. Results of this study showed that the measurement of apolipoproteins A-I, B and C-III in conjunction with TC and TG is of potential use for differentiating patients with peripheral arterial disease from normal controls as well as for distinguishing patients with SAS from those with SPAD. It seems that particular patterns of peripheral arterial disease in women may be associated with slightly different alterations in the plasma lipoprotein system.