Determinants of glycated LDL levels in nondiabetic and diabetic hyperlipidaemic patients in Kuwait

Background: Glycation and oxidative modification of lipoproteins enhance the uptake of these lipids by macrophages in the early stages of atherogenesis. Measurement of blood levels of modified LDL particles could thus constitute another useful modality in identifying subjects at high risk of coronary atherosclerosis (CHD). Objective: To measure the glycated LDL level and assess its associations with other metabolic parameters in diabetic and nondiabetic hyperlipidaemic subjects attending a Lipid Clinic in Kuwait. Subjects and methods: One hundred thirty-three hyperlipidaemic (HL) (72 nondiabetic (ND); 61 diabetic (D)) patients and 42 healthy control (HC) subjects had their fasting serum samples analyzed for glucose, total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), urate, HDL, LDL (by routine autoanalyzer methods), apolipoproteins A1 and B (by nephelometry), fructosamine (by spectrophotometry) and glycated LDL (gLDL) by ELISA. Results: The serum gLDL level was significantly higher in HL [D+ND] than in HC ( p