Apolipoproteins A1, B, and other prognostic biochemical cardiovascular risk factors in patients with beta-thalassemia major

Figures & data

Table 1 Demographic and hematological characteristics of the study subjects

Variable	Patients (n = 70)	Controls (n = 71)	Test significance P-value
Age	26.7 ± 0.60	25.9 ± 7.20	NS
Gender M/F	34/36	33/38	NS
RBC (×10^12/l)	2.76 ± 0.63	4.5 ± 1.15	<0.001
Hb (g/dl)	7.99 ± 1.48	14.54 ± 1.1	<0.001
Hct (%)	23.2 ± 4.34	44 ± 6.04	<0.001
MCV (FL)	79.4 ± 10.96	87.6 ± 6.04	<0.001
MCH (pg)	27.4 ± 3.5	30.6 ± 2	<0.001
MCHC (g/dl)	33.9 ± 3.8	34.28 ± 38.07	NS

RBC: number of red blood cells; Hb: hemoglobin; Hct: hemotocrit; MCV: mean corpuscular volume; MCH: mean corpuscular hemoglobin; MCHC: mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration. NS (not significant).

Values represent means ± SD. Comparisons were made using Student's t-test between groups.

Significance was defined as P < 0.05.

Table 2 Cardiovascular risk parameters in patients and controls

Variable	Case (n = 70)	Control (n = 71)	Test significance P-value
apoB (mg/dl)	76.86 ± 22.29	105.09 ± 26.04	<0.001
apoA1 (mg/dl)	90.21 ± 21.47	181.45 ± 43.33	<0.001
apoB/apoA1 ratio	0.78 ± 0.06	0.6 ± 0.03	<0.05
Ferritin (mg/dl)	1779.90 ± 409.48	166.81 ± 25.09	<0.001
PAB (HK)	105.21	75.79	<0.001
Homocysteine (µmol/l)	12.21 ± 6.55	17.80 ± 4.31	<0.001
hs-CRP (mg/l)	53.76	54.10	NS
Lipid profile
TG (mg/dl)	109.64 ± 42.01	130.67 ± 65.83	<0.001
TC (mg/dl)	107.58 ± 24.64	224.56 ± 41.20	<0.001
HDL (mg/dl)	24.41 ± 7.182123	48.55 ± 5.35	<0.001
LDL (mg/dl)	72.32 ± 17.87	138.48 ± 27.68	<0.001
VLDL (mg/dl)	21.97 ± 8.40	24.57 ± 13.51	NS

apoA: Apolipoprotein A; apoB: Apolipoprotein B; PAB: pro-oxidant–antioxidant balance; hs-CRP: high-sensitivity C-reactive protein; TG: triglycerides; TC: total cholesterol; HDL-C: high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; LDL-C: low-density lipoprotein cholesterol.

NS (not significant). Values represent means ± SD. Comparisons were made using Student's t-test between groups.

Significance was defined as P < 0.05.

Figure 1 Scatter plot shows apoA1 correlated significantly with apoB values.

Figure 2 Scatter plot shows apoB/A1 ratio correlated significantly with serum apoB.

Figure 3 Scatter plot shows apoB/A1 ratio correlated significantly with homocysteine concentration.

Table 3 Correlations between cardiovascular risk factors in patients

Variables	ApoB	ApoA1	ApoB/apoA1 ratio	Ferritin	PAB	hs-CRP	Homocysteine
apoB (mg/dl)	–	r = 0.458	r = 0.690	r = −0.047	r = −0.432	r = −0.034	r = 0.246
		P = 0.027	P = 0.000	P = 0.896	P = 0.039	P = 0.877	P = 0.280
apoA1(mg/dl)	r = 0.458	–	r = −0.31	r = 0.231	r = −0.109	r = −0.244	r = −0.285
	P = 0.027		P = 0.150	P = 0.520	P = 0.620	P = 0.260	P = 0.210
apobB/apoA1 ratio	r = 0.690	r = −0.31	–	r = 0.359	r = −0.366	r = 0.121	r = 0.55
	P = 0.000	P = 0.150		P = 0.093	P = 0.086	P = 0.583	P = 0.001
Ferritin (ng/ml)	r = −0.047	r = 0.231	r = 0.359	–	r = 0.544	r = 0.188	r = −0.269
	P = 0.896	P = 0.520	P = 0.093		P = 0.105	P = 0.602	P = 0.451
PAB(HK)	r = −0.432	r = −0.109	r = −0.366	r = 0.544	–	r = −0.187	r = −0.127
	P = 0.0392	P = 0.620	P = 0.086	P = 0.103		P = 0.287	P = 0.488
hs-CRP (mg/l)	r = −0.034	r = −0.244	r = 0.121	r = 0.188	r = −0.187	–	r = −0.023
	P = 0.877	P = 0.260	P = 0.583	P = 0.602	P = 0.287		P = 0.896
Homocysteine (µmol/l)	r = 0.246	r = −0.285	r = 0.55	r = −0.269	r = −0.127	r = −0.023	–
	P = 0.280	P = 0.210	P = 0.001	P = 0.451	P = 0.488	P = 0.896

apoA: Apolipoprotein A; apoB: Apolipoprotein B; PAB: pro-oxidant–antioxidant balance; hs-CRP: high-sensitivity C-reactive protein; TG: triglycerides; TC: total cholesterol; HDL-C: high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; LDL-C: low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; Spearman's correlation univariate analysis was used to test the relationships between parameters. Significance was defined as P < 0.05.

Table 4 Correlations between cardiovascular risk factors with lipid profile in patients

Lipid profile	apoB	apoA1	apoB/apoA1 ratio	Ferritin	PAB	hs-CRP	Homocysteine
TG (mg/dl)	r = 0.108	r = 0.021	r = 0.13	r = −0.476	r = −0.331	r = 0.115	r = 0.332
	P = 0.622	P = 0.923	P = 0.55	P = 0.163	P = 0.045	P = 0.513	P = 0.032
HDL (mg/dl)	r = 0.573	r = 0.88	r = −0.105	r = 0.160	r = −0.042	r = −0.123	r = −0.372
	P = 0.004	P < 0.001	P = 0.632	P = 0.657	P = 0.811	P = 0.485	P = 0.035
VLDL (mg/dl)	r = 0.110	r = 0.014	r = 0.140	r = −0.475	r = −0.321	r = 0.115	r = 0.344
	P = 0.615	P = 0.948	P = 0.523	P = 0.164	P = 0.043	P = 0.515	P = 0.040
TC (mg/dl))	r = 0.819	r = 0.367	r = 0.580	r = −0.179	r = −0.502	r = 0.053	r = 0.125
	P < 0.001	P = 0.084	P = 0.004	P = 0.620	P = 0.002	P = 0.765	P = 0.492

apoA: Apolipoprotein A; apoB: Apolipoprotein B; PAB: pro-oxidant–antioxidant balance; hs-CRP: high-sensitivity C-reactive protein; TG: triglycerides; TC: total cholesterol; HDL-C: high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; LDL-C: low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; Spearman's correlation univariate analysis was used to test the relationships between parameters. Significance was defined as P < 0.05.

Table 5 Multiple linear regression analysis of apoA1, apoB, and apoB/A1 ratio (dependent variables) vs. independent variables (ferritin, homocysteine, PAB, and hs-CRP)

	Variables	Beta(b)	SEb	P-value
apoA1	Ferritin (ng/ml)	0.016	0.014	0.309 = NS
	Homocysteine (µmol/l)	−1.146	0.705	0.164 = NS
	PAB (HK)	−0.291	0.254	0.303 = NS
	hs-CRP (mg/l)	−1.288	0.989	0.249 = NS
apoB	Ferritin (ng/ml)	0.006	0.025	0.809 = NS
	Homocysteine (µmol/l)	0.350	1.274	0.794 = NS
	PAB (HK)	−0.243	0.459	0.618 = NS
	hs-CRP (mg/l)	0.718	1.788	0.704 = NS
apoB/A1 ratio	Ferritin (ng/ml)	0.000	0.000	0.094 = NS
	Homocysteine (µmol/l)	0.023	0.009	0.018
	PAB (HK)	−0.002	0.002	0.325 = NS
	hs-CRP (mg/l)	0.009	0.009	0.315 = NS

b: Regression coefficient; SE_b: standard error of b. Significance was defined as P < 0.05.