Influence of fibrate treatment on malondialdehyde-modified LDL concentration

BACKGROUND: Drug therapy is considered essential to the clinical prevention of atherosclerotic lesions in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM). METHODS: To confirm the effects of fibrate therapy, we determined low-density lipoprotein (LDL) size by gradient gel electrophoresis and malondialdehyde-modified LDL (MDA-LDL) concentrations by enzyme-linked immunosolvent assay (ELISA) and clarified the association between apolipoprotein B (apo B) and MDA-LDL during the fibrate therapy. RESULTS: Mean MDA-LDL concentrations were higher in healthy men than in healthy women. There were no significant differences in mean MDA-LDL concentrations between age groups for males or females. According to the regression equation (y = 0.063x + 10.9) obtained for apo B and MDA-LDL concentrations with fibrate treatment, the apo B concentration in those may need to be decreased to 1260 mg/l to restore the MDA-LDL concentration to the control concentration (65 +/- 25 units/l). This slope of the apoB/MDA-LDL regression line was approximately half of that with no-drug treatment (y = 0.109x - 10.8). CONCLUSIONS: Fibrate therapy had an effect on reducing serum MDA-LDL concentration in diabetic patients.