The Significance of Mid-band Appearance in Ischemic Heart Disease in Japan

The mid-band in polyacrylymide gel electrophoresis, which showed abnormal band between the bands of LDL and VLDL, is interpreted as an increase in IDL and an increase in cholesterol content of the VLDL fraction. The determine the relationship between mid-band appearance and coronary artery disease, we measured coronary artery stenosis, mid-band, several metabolic variables, and the distribution of abdominal fat by CT scans of 161 male patients who had undergone coronary angiography. The prevalence of mid-band in the group with coronary artery stenosis was significantly higher than in the group without coronary artery stenosis. Midband appearance was associated with triglyceride concentration, insulin concentration, and inversely HDL-cholesterol concentration. Mid-band prevalence was higher when visceral fat accumulation and hypertension were found in combination. Within the hypertensive group, the cardscore was significantly higher for combined visceral fat accumulation and mid-band appearance, while in the normotensive group mid-band appearance had no effect on the cardscore. With respect to metabolic profiles in the hypertensive group, plasma insulin levels and the glucose levels were elevated in the positive mid-band and visceral fat accumulation groups.We concluded that mid-band appearance was not atherogenic for men. It is not atherogenic when the abnormality is isolated, that is, existing in nonvisceral fat accumulation and normotension, and it is the most atherogenic when the positive mid-band, visceral fat accumulation and hypertension are all present. Also insulin resistance and/or hyerinsulinemia played a central role in the atherogenecity in the group with positive mid-band, visceral fat accumulation and hypertension.