Differences in lipid profile in patients with first myocardial infarction occurring at different ages

Zygmunt Chodorowski¹, Jacek Sein Anand¹, Jerzy Foerster², Marcin Gruchała³, Krzysztof Chlebus³

Summary
Aim. Disorders of lipid metabolism occupy a prominent place among the numerous well-known risk factors for ischemic heart disease. Relatively little attention has been paid, however, to the behavior of the basic lipid metabolism parameters in particular age groups of patients with ischemic heart disease. The goal of our study was to trace the mutual relations between disorders of lipid metabolism and the patient´s age at the time of first myocardial infarction.
Method. Plasma lipid levels were examined in 1567 patients with first acute myocardial infarction, 944 men and 623 women, ranging in age from 26 to 100 years (mean 63.1±11.9). Six lipid parameters were analyzed: Total cholesterol (Tch), LDL-cholesterol (LDLch), HDL-cholesterol (HDLch), triglycerides (TG), atherogenic index (Tch/HDLch) and Gubner´s index (Tch/HDLch × TG). The patients were divided into four age groups: <40 years, 40-59 years, 60-79 years, and 80.
Results. Of the 6 lipid metabolism parameters, 4 (Tch, TG, atherogenic index, Gubner´s index) demonstrated a significant downward trend in the whole study population from 52 to 85 years, while LDL cholesterol declined only until age 68. Among men, all of the lipid indicators except for HDLch decreased significantly from 51 to 85 years. Among women, the downward tendency was similar; however, LDL-cholesterol values did not decline significantly.
Conclusion. Among all studied indicators of lipid metabolism, only HDL-cholesterol levels remained stable and did not change significantly with age in any of the study groups.

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