Analysis of Iron and Lipid Profiles in Indian Male Acute Myocardial Infarction Patients

Body iron contributes to pathogenesis of coronary artery disease (CAD) through formation of free radicals by Fenton and Haber-Weiss reactions. Free radicals cause lipid peroxidation leading to formation of atherosclerotic plaques by deposition of modified low density lipoprotein (LDL). However, the relationship between body iron indices and acute myocardial infarction remains ambiguous. The present study intended to analyze alterations in body iron levels and correlate them with lipid profile in AMI patients in Indian population. The study enrolled 160 male subjects (40-60 years of age), 80 AMI patients with first MI incidence and 80 healthy controls (no history of angina/MI). Serum ferritin was measured by electro-chemiluminescence immunometric method by Roche Cobas e411 analyzer. Serum iron, TIBC, transferrin and lipid profile consisting of cholesterol (total, LDL, HDL), triglycerides were estimated by photometric and apolipoproteins, A1 and B, by immuno-turbidimetric methods on Roche Cobas c501 analyzer using commercially available kits from Roche. Iron and ferritin levels were found to be significantly increased (p<0.001) whereas, TIBC and transferrin levels were significantly decreased (p˂0.001) in sera of AMI cases when compared to control. Patients with AMI had significantly high total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, triglyceride and apolipoprotein B (p<0.001) and significantly low HDL cholesterol and apolipoprotein A1 levels than healthy subjects (p˂0.001). Serum ferritin level for predicting AMI was found to be more than 196 ng/ml (Sensitivity 89 % and specificity 78%) in ROC curve analysis. In the present study, AMI patients demonstrate elevated serum ferritin levels along with concurrent dyslipidemic changes like raised LDL, total cholesterol, triglyceride and apolipoprotein B and decreased HDL apolipoprotein A1. Such association indicates that the body iron status coupled with the lipid profile might play a role in development and precipitation of acute myocardial infarction in Indian male population.