Novel and traditional lipid-related biomarkers and their combinations in predicting coronary severity

We investigated simultaneously traditional and novel lipid indices, alone or in combination, in predicting coronary severity assessed by Gensini score (GS) in 1605 non-lipid-lowering-drug-treated patients undergoing coronary angiography. Firstly, levels of triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), non high density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C), apolipoprotein (apo) B, lipoprotein (a) [Lp(a)], proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9), apoC3, small dense LDL (sdLDL) and large HDL were increased, while HDL-C and apoA1 levels were decreased as GS status (all p for trend <0.05). However, gender stratification analyses showed similar associations between lipids and GS in men but not in women. Secondly, multiple logistic regression analyses indicated that the 12 indices were predictive for high GS (≥24) but not for low GS (1–23) compared with normal coronary (GS = 0) except for TG (neither) and apoB (both). Finally, we found that interactions between two indices with mutually exclusive composition were positively associated with GS status except for couples of TC + apoC3, apoB/PCSK9/apoC3 + sdLDL-C. Concordant elevations in the two showed the highest predictive values for high GS (all p for trend <0.05). Therefore, lipid biomarkers were associated with coronary severity and their adverse changes in combination emerged greater risks in men but not in women.