The association between blood glucose and oxidized lipoprotein(a) in healthy young women

BACKGROUND: Oxidized lipoproteins play important roles in the atherosclerotic processes. Oxidized lipoprotein(a) (oxLp(a)) may be more potent in atherosclerotic pathophysiology than native Lp(a), a cardiovascular disease-relevant lipoprotein. Increased blood glucose concentrations can induce oxidative modification of lipoproteins. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between circulating oxLp(a) and cardiometabolic variables including blood glucose in healthy volunteers within the normal range of blood glucose. METHODS: Several cardiometabolic variables and serum oxLp(a) (using an ELISA system) were measured among 70 healthy females (mean age, 22 years). RESULTS: Lp(a) and glucose were significantly and positively correlated with oxLp(a) in simple correlation test. Furthermore, a multiple linear regression analysis showed oxLp(a) to have a weakly, but significantly positive and independent correlation with only blood glucose (β = 0.269, P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that increased glucose may enhance the oxidization of Lp(a) even at normal glucose levels.