Association between low-molecular weight apolipoprotein(a) isoforms and obesity in Italian women

OBJECTIVE: Low-molecular weight (MW) apolipoprotein(a) [apo(a)] isoforms are closely associated with an increased incidence of atherothrombotic disease, prevalence of which is higher in obese individuals, particularly in women. The hypothesis of this study was to assess whether there are differences in the distribution of apo(a) phenotypes between obese patients and healthy controls. RESEARCH METHODS AND PROCEDURES: One hundred three obese Italian women (BMI > or = 30.0 kg/m2) were enrolled in the study, and apo(a) phenotyping was performed in all subjects. The prevalence of low-MW apo(a) isoforms, detected in plasma samples of our obese women, was compared with that found in a control group of 84 normal-weight, never-obese (BMI < 25.0 kg/m(2)), age-matched women. RESULTS: The distribution of apo(a) isoforms in the population of obese women was significantly different from that found in normal-weight female subjects. In particular, the percentage of subjects in the obese group with at least one apo(a) isoform of low MW was significantly higher than that in the control group (51.4% vs. 32.1%, p = 0.0079). DISCUSSION: Our results seem to suggest the possibility that small-sized apo(a) isoforms may be used together with other traditional risk factors to better assess the overall predisposition to atherothrombotic disease in obese women.