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Article Type

Article

Abstract

Background: Atherosclerosis develops silently before clinical manifestations appear. Myeloperoxidase and oxidized LDL are promising biomarkers reflecting oxidative stress and vascular inflammation during early disease stages. Aims of the study: This study aimed to evaluate myeloperoxidase and oxidized LDL as early biomarkers of atherosclerosis and examine their associations with inflammation, oxidative stress, and dyslipidemia. Methodology: A case control study was conducted at Medical city, Baghdad, Iraq, from January 2025 to March 2026, involving 100 patients with early atherosclerosis and 50 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Early atherosclerosis was diagnosed by carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT ≥ 0.9 mm) and/or carotid plaque detected by Doppler ultrasonography. Fasting blood samples were collected for biochemical and immunological analyses. Lipid profile parameters were measured enzymatically, while MPO, ox-LDL, IL-6, and TNF-α were determined by ELISA. CRP was measured immunoturbidimetrically, whereas MDA and SOD were assessed as markers of oxidative stress and antioxidant status, respectively. Result: A total of 100 patients with early atherosclerosis and 50 healthy controls were enrolled. The groups were comparable in age and sex, while patients exhibited significantly higher BMI, smoking prevalence, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and blood pressure levels. Patients showed marked dyslipidemia, characterized by elevated total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL-C, oxidized LDL, and MPO, alongside reduced HDL-C (all p < 0.001). Inflammatory and oxidative stress markers, including hs-CRP, IL-6, TNF-α, and MDA, were significantly increased, whereas SOD activity was decreased (p < 0.001). MPO and oxidized LDL correlated positively with lipid abnormalities, inflammation, and oxidative stress indices. ROC analysis demonstrated excellent diagnostic performance for oxidized LDL (AUC = 0.914) and MPO (AUC = 0.882), outperforming hs-CRP and IL-6 in identifying early atherosclero. Conclusions: Myeloperoxidase and oxidized LDL are promising biomarkers for the early detection of atherosclerosis. Their strong associations with dyslipidemia, inflammation, and oxidative stress, together with excellent diagnostic performance, suggest their potential utility in cardiovascular risk assessment and early disease identification.

Keywords

Myeloperoxidase, Oxidized low-density lipoprotein, Atherosclerosis, Inflammation, Oxidative stress

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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