The two-part study was the first of its kind, in which researchers in Japan found that oxidized LDL was higher in the plaques of those with unstable angina than those with stable angina.
Stable angina is chest pain that happens during exertion.
Those who have unstable angina have chest pain even while not exerting themselves. It is accepted that inflammation within the plaque plays a key role in destabilizing the lesions, which leads to coronary events such as heart attacks. The patients were divided into three groups of 45 patients each. The groups were divided among patients with heart attack, patients with unstable angina, and patients with stable angina. There was also a control group.