Serum tocopherols and lipids in patients with coronary artery disease.

Serum tocopherols and lipids levels in 40 coronary artery disease patients were statistically analysed in relation to those of the normal controls and an attempt was made to define the correlation between tocopherols and various lipids. Serum tocopherols levels were found to be significantly low in coronary artery disease patients as compared to those of the controls implicating an inverse relationship between coronary artery disease and serum level of tocopherols. Coronary artery disease population did not register any significant change in various blood lipids, except triglyceride fraction, as compared to that of the normal population. Serum tocopherols and lipids were also analysed in relation to age and sex. The preliminary data suggest that coronary artery disease patients have sub-optimal tocopherols level (0.58 +/- 0.26 mg/dl) as compared to that of the normal controls (0.81 +/- 0.34 mg/dl; p < 0.001), which may be an important risk and/or contributing factor for atherogenesis and coronary artery disease