Plasma oxygen permeability may be a factor in atherosclerosis.

Plasma oxygen permeability measures how easily oxygen dissolves in and diffuses through blood plasma. There has long been evidence that artery wall hypoxia plays a role in atherogenesis. This paper reviews the influence that plasma oxygen permeability has on artery wall oxygenation and presents experimental evidence for a relationship between plasma oxygen permeability and clinically significant obstructive coronary artery disease. Thirty-eight inpatients referred for diagnostic cardiac catheterization were scored for active coronary artery disease, and their plasma oxygen permeabilities were measured. There was a statistically significant (p = 0.04) correlation between active coronary artery disease and plasma oxygen permeability. There were also statistically significant differences in mean plasma oxygen permeability both between patients who did and did not have actively progressing coronary artery disease (p = 0.01) and between patients who did and did not have clinically significant obstructive coronary artery disease, whether it was actively progressing or not (p = 0.02). These findings suggest that a decline in plasma oxygen permeability may be one of the many factors associated with progression of atherosclerosis and that substances which increase oxygen permeability might offer a useful adjunct to current therapeutic measures.