Objectives: To investigate the relationship between serum free fatty acids (FFAs) levels and the severity of coronary artery lesions in elderly patients with coronary heart disease (CAD).
Methods: A total of 172 elderly patients who underwent coronary angiography were divided into CAD group (n = 128) and non-CAD group (n = 44) according to the results of coronary angiography. Serum FFAs and lipid levels were measured and the Gensini score were calculated.
Results: No matter the differences between age, gender and the usage of statins or not, there was no statistical significance in FFAs levels (P > 0.05). In terms of the Gensini score, it was higher in patients aged 70-79 years than in patients 60-69 years old [15.00 (5.00, 34.00) vs. 10.00 (2.00, 24.00), P < 0.05], higher in men than women [14.00 (4.00, 34.00) vs. 7.00 (2.50, 19.75), P < 0.05], and higher in patients on statins [13.50 (4.25, 33.50) vs. 6.50 (2.00, 18.00), P < 0.05]. The serum FFAs levels [449.50 (299.00, 624.75) mEq/L vs. 388.00 (258.50, 495.25) mEq/L, P < 0.05] and Gensini score [17.50 (8.00, 41.75) vs. 1.00 (0, 5.00), P < 0.05] were higher in the CAD group than in the non-CAD group. In the CAD group, there was no statistical significance in FFAs levels among patients with different numbers of diseased coronary vessels (P > 0.05). Furthermore, the FFAs levels were positively correlated with the Gensini score (r = 0.394, P = 0.005). Regression analysis showed that the FFAs levels were related to the Gensini score independently after adjusting for the other risk factors.
Conclusions: The serum FFAs levels were associated with the Gensini score in elderly patients with CAD. It might indicate FFAs as a biomarker predicting the severity of coronary artery lesions.
Keywords: Coronary heart disease; Free fatty acids; Gensini score; The elderly.