Oxidative stress and Atherosclerotic Plaque Progression: A plausible insight into the role of paraxonases and Ox-LDL

The atherosclerotic heart disease is a complex disease associated with a plethora of dynamics contributing to its initiation and progression. Despite, diabetes and hypertension provide favorable conditions that provoke and aggravate atherosclerosis, it is undeniable that all of them do not have the tendency to develop plaques. This study was devised to identify the attributes that discriminate the diabetic and/or hypertensive ischemic patients from their corresponding non-ischemic population. Serum total antioxidant status, ox-LDL levels, Paraoxonase levels and its activity were assessed in the study groups. In order to evaluate the extent of the atherosclerotic disease progression, the aortic punch tissue samples from patients undergoing CABG were analyzed for the expression of ox-LDL and PON-2. Our results showed that their serum levels correlated well with the tissue expression. To ascertain the same with the progression of the disease, animal studies with rats fed with High Cholesterol Diet were carried out. Our findings suggests that ox-LDL and HDL-PON activity reflects the atherogenic events taking place in the arteries and further assessment of atherosclerotic risk in terms of ox-LDL and PON might be recommended after further validation.