We hypothesized that cholesterol efflux capacity is more useful than the lipid profile as a marker of the presence and the severity of coronary artery disease (CAD). Therefore, we investigated the associations between the presence and the severity of CAD and both the percentage of cholesterol efflux capacity and total cholesterol efflux capacity and the lipid profile including the high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) level in patients who underwent coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA). The subjects consisted of 204 patients who were clinically suspected to have CAD and underwent CTA. We isolated HDL from plasma by ultracentrifugation and measured the percentage of cholesterol efflux capacity using 3H-cholesterol-labeled J774 macrophage cells and calculated total cholesterol efflux capacity as follows: the percentage of cholesterol efflux capacity/100× HDL-C levels. While the percentage of cholesterol efflux capacity was not associated with the presence or the severity of CAD, total cholesterol efflux capacity and HDL-C in patients with CAD were significantly lower than those in patients without CAD. In addition, total cholesterol efflux capacity and HDL-C, but not the percentage of cholesterol efflux capacity, significantly decreased as the number of coronary arteries with significant stenosis increased. Total cholesterol efflux capacity was positively correlated with HDL-C, whereas the percentage of cholesterol efflux capacity showed only weak association. In a logistic regression analysis, the presence of CAD was independently associated with total cholesterol efflux capacity, in addition to age and gender. Finally, a receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis indicated that the areas under the curves for total cholesterol efflux capacity and HDL-C were similar. In conclusion, the percentage of cholesterol efflux capacity using the fixed amount of isolated HDL was not associated with CAD. On the other hand, the calculated total cholesterol efflux capacity that was dependent of HDL-C levels had a significant correlation with the presence of CAD.
Keywords: Cholesterol efflux capacity; Coronary artery disease; Coronary computed tomography angiography; High-density lipoprotein cholesterol.