Coronary atherosclerosis and body iron stores

Body iron stores and coronary heart disease.

Over the past 20 years, the hypothesis that body iron stores are associated with risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) has generated extensive debate (1–4). This debate has intensified in the last 4 years after reports from three studies that carriers of the recently discovered HFE C282Y mutation commonly seen in hereditary hemochromatosis have significantly increased risk of CHD (5–9). Clinical...

A study of iron status in patients with coronary atherosclerosis

Background: It has been demonstrated that free oxygen radicals have a close interaction with lipid peroxidation, causing a modification of low-density lipoproteins (LDL) and facilitating LDL deposition, with the consequent formation of atherosclerosis plaques. Free radical production is catalyzed and accelerated in the presence of iron. This study was conducted to evaluate the possible associ...

Body iron stores and presence of carotid atherosclerosis. Results from the Bruneck Study.

We hypothesized that the formation of foam cells and fatty streaks requires a postsecretory oxidative modification of lipoproteins that targets them for rapid uptake by macrophages. Lipid peroxidation may in part depend on the concentration of tissue iron, one of the major oxidants in vivo. We analyzed the relation between sonographically assessed carotid atherosclerosis and body iron stores in...

Do body iron stores increase the risk of developing coronary heart disease?1,2

Excessive body iron stores are not associated with risk of coronary heart disease in women.

The positive association between body iron stores and risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) initially observed among a Finnish male population has not been corroborated by studies conducted in other populations. The soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR):ferritin ratio has been suggested to be a better index than ferritin to measure body iron stores. Because sTfR is sensitive to iron deficiency, th...