The sections were removed directly from the area thought to have caused the blockage that was causing the chest pain. The researchers scored the samples according to ox-LDL levels at that site. They discovered that those who had unstable angina had ox-LDL scores of about 0.49 and those with stable angina had an average score of 0.07. According to Sotirios Tsimikas, M.D., assistant professor of medicine, division of cardiology, University of California at San Diego , the work done is unique because it examines different groups of patients using the same LDL measurements. The sicker the patient, the higher the levels of circulating oxidized LDL, indicating that it is a marker of atherosclerotic plaques.
Atherosclerosis is a narrowing of the arteries from plaques on the inner lining.
The plaques are made of LDL, decaying muscle cells, fibrous tissue, clumps of blood platelets and cholesterol. When plaques rupture, the oxidation process starts up and LDL begins to circulate. Tsimikas and Joseph Witztum, M.D., professor of medicine and director of endocrinology and metabolism at UCSD, suggested in an accompanying editorial that the Osaka study is another step forward that could ultimately result in the development of a new diagnostic test to assess the risk of heart attack and discriminate between patients at risk. They say that today, the test probably cannot be applied outside of a laboratory.