Proportion of lipids in relation to size or burden of the atherosclerotic plaque in human coronary arteries

• Processo: 15/11037-8
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Publicações científicas - Artigo
• Data de Início da vigência: 01 de agosto de 2015
• Data de Término da vigência: 31 de janeiro de 2016
• Área do conhecimento: Ciências da Saúde - Medicina - Anatomia Patológica e Patologia Clínica
• Pesquisador responsável: Paulo Sampaio Gutierrez
• Beneficiário: Paulo Sampaio Gutierrez
• Instituição Sede: Instituto do Coração Professor Euryclides de Jesus Zerbini (INCOR). Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da USP (HCFMUSP). Secretaria da Saúde (São Paulo - Estado). São Paulo , SP, Brasil
• Assunto(s): Patologia Vasos coronários Aterosclerose Lipídeos
• Palavra(s)-Chave do Pesquisador: artérias coronárias | aterosclerose | Lipídeos | patologia | seres humanos | Patologia Cardiovascular

Resumo

The lipid content of an atherosclerotic lesion influences plaque vulnerability. Most previous pathological studies measured the amount of fat considering its "negative image" (empty spaces supposed to be filled by lipids). We measured by morphometry the positive lipid staining in frozen histological sections, determining the relationships between the amount or proportion of lipids and plaque size or burden. Ninety-four coronary artery segments from the hearts of 34 necropsy cases of patients who died with ischemic heart disease were included. Pearson´s test was used to verify the correlations. For the amount of fat, the correlation between measurements by the two methods was significant, but weak (r=0.34, p<0.01); for its proportion, there was no significance (r=-0.02, p=0.86). The correlation between positive areas for fat with intimal area was moderate (r=0.60, p<0.01), and with plaque burden was weak (r=0.24, p=0.02). The correlation between percentage of fat with the intimal area remained significant but weak (r=0.26, p<0.01), and there was no correlation with plaque burden (r=0.08, p=0.46). We conclude that the standard histological method does not appear to be reliable for evaluating lipids in atherosclerotic plaques. Analysis of positive fat staining showed that its proportion does not vary according to plaque size or burden. (AU)