Smaller HDL particles are associated with absence of obstructive coronary artery disease in stable angina pectoris patients

Background A research on novel cardiovascular risk factors is mainly focused on patients with clinically verified coronary artery disease (CAD), while less is known about their presence in symptomatic patients, but without angiographically proven occlusion of coronary arteries. The aim of this study was to compare plasma low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) size and subclasses in stable angina patients with and without significant obstructive CAD. Methods LDL and HDL subclasses were analysed in 100 stable angina patients with >= 50% of obstruction and 40 patients with less than 50% of luminal narrowing, as assessed by coronary angiography. Results Patients with <50% of obstruction had reduced mean HDL size and higher proportion of small HDL particles (P < 0.05). HDL size and proportion of small HDL particles were significant and independent predictors of obstructive CAD (P < 0.05, respectively). Conclusions Stable angina patients with