In Search of Biological Markers of High-Risk Carotid Artery Atherosclerotic Plaque: Enhanced LDL Oxidation

-oxidized [oxLDL] or malondialdehyde derivatized LDL [MDA-LDL]), that consistently mirrors the occurrence of oxidative modifications in vivo. A statistically significant correlation (r= 0.23, p= 0.039) was found between the degree of carotid stenosis and antiMDA-LDL specific ratio (a parameter that describes the specificity of LDL towards other proteins as target for oxidative modification). A statistically significant correlation was also found between the PU score and antioxLDL IgG (r= 0.32, p= 0.011), antiMDA-LDL IgG (r= 0.25, p= 0.045) and antiMDA-LDL IgG specific ratio (r= 0.38, p= 0.002). None of the classical biochemical parameters (total, LDL and HDL cholesterol and triglycerides) correlated with the above-mentioned plaque characteristics. The results shown, support the use of biological markers of in vivo LDL oxidation (antioxidatively modified LDL autoantibody titers) to evaluate the clinical setting of high-risk carotid atherosclerosis both in screening and in follow-up studies.