The sensibility of the new blood lipid indicator--atherogenic index of plasma (AIP) in menopausal women with coronary artery disease.

Background: Dyslipidemia is a key driver of coronary artery disease (CAD) development. This study aimed to determine whether the atherogenic index of plasma (AIP), a novel comprehensive lipid index, is an independent and reliable predictor of CAD risk in postmenopausal women.

Methods: A cohort of consecutive 4644 postmenopausal women (aged 50 or above) undergoing coronary angiography (CAG) in Anzhen Hospital (Beijing, China) from January-December 2014 was included in the analysis. Of them, 3039 women were CAD patients, and 1605 were non-CAD subjects.

Results: Relative to control subjects, TG levels in CAD patients were higher and HDL-C levels were lower. In CAD patients, non-traditional lipid profile values (TC/HDL-C, AI, and AIP) were significantly elevated relative to controls. AIP was positively correlated with TC (r = 0.157), TG (r = 0.835), LDL-C (r = 0.058), non-HDL-C (r = 0.337), TC/HDL-C (r = 0.683), LDL-C/HDL-C (r = 0.437), LCI (r = 0.662), and AI (r = 0.684), and negatively correlated with HDL-C (r = - 0.682) (all P < 0.001), but was independent of age (r = - 0.022; P = 0.130) and BMI (r = 0.020, P = 0.168). Aunivariate logistic regression analysis revealed AIP to be the measured lipid parameter most closely related to CAD, and its unadjusted odds ratio was 1.824 (95% CI: 1.467-2.267, P < 0.001). After adjusting for several CAD risk factors (age, BMI, smoking, drinking, EH, DM, hyperlipidemia, and family history of CVD, AIP was still found to represent a significant CAD risk factor (OR 1.553, 95% CI: 1.234-1.955, P < 0. 001).

Conclusions: AIP may be a powerful independent predictor of CAD risk in Chinese Han postmenopausal women, and may be superior to the traditional lipid indices.