Plasma apoCIII Levels in Relation to Inflammatory Traits and Metabolic Syndrome in Patients not Treated with Lipid-lowering Drugs Undergoing Coronary Angiography

Abstract

Objective: Assessment of the comprehensive relationship among apolipoprotein CIII (apoCIII) levels, inflammation, and metabolic disorders is rare.

Methods: A total of 1455 consecutive patients not treated with lipid-lowering drugs and undergoing coronary angiography were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. A mediation analysis was used to detect the underlying role of apoCIII in the association of inflammation with metabolic syndrome (MetS).

Results: Patients with MetS showed higher levels of apoCIII [95.1 (73.1-131.4) vs. 81.7 (58.6-112.4) μg/mL, P < 0.001] and inflammatory markers [high sensitivity C-reactive protein, 1.7 (0.8-3.4) vs. 1.1 (0.5-2.2) mg/L; white blood cell count, (6.48 ± 1.68) vs. (6.11 ± 1.67) × 109/L]. The levels of apoCIII and inflammatory markers increased with the number of metabolic risk components (all P < 0.001). Furthermore, apoCIII levels were associated with virtually all individual MetS risk factors and inflammatory markers (all P < 0.05). Importantly, the prevalence of MetS in each metabolic disorder rose as apoCIII levels increased (all P < 0.05). Mediation analysis showed that apoCIII partially mediated the effect of inflammation on MetS independently from triglycerides.

Conclusion: Plasma apoCIII levels were significantly associated with the development and severity of MetS, and a role of apoCIII in the effect of inflammation on the development of MetS was identified.

Keywords: Apolipoprotein CIII; Inflammation; Metabolic syndrome.