Low Hepatic Lipase Activity Is a Novel Risk Factor for Coronary Artery Disease

Abstract

Background — The crucial function of hepatic lipase (HL) in lipid metabolism has been well established, but the relationship between HL activity and coronary artery disease (CAD) is disputed. Methods and Results — We measured HL activity in the postheparin plasma of 200 consecutive men undergoing elective coronary angiography and determined the degree of CAD with the extent score, which has been shown to be better correlated with known risk factors than other measures of CAD extent. We found a significant inverse correlation between HL activity and the extent of CAD ( r =−0.19, P 0.96 mmol/L (n=94, r =−0.30, P −1 · min ⁻¹ , P r =0.30, P P P =0.01). Conclusions — Our data show that low HL activity is associated with CAD. Therefore, HL might be useful for CAD risk estimation and might be a target for pharmacological intervention.