A cross-sectional study of the association between heat shock protein 27 antibody titers, pro-oxidant-antioxidant balance and metabolic syndrome in patients with angiographically-defined coronary artery disease

OBJECTIVE To investigate the association between serum antibody titers to Hsp27 (anti-Hsp27) and pro-oxidant-antioxidant balance (PAB) in patients with angiographically-defined coronary artery disease (CAD) with or without the metabolic syndrome (MS). DESIGN Subjects (n=243) were classified into MS+ (n=161) and MS- (n=82) subgroups, based on the AHA/NHBLI criteria. RESULTS Serum anti-Hsp27 titers were found to be significantly higher in the MS+ vs. MS- group. However, no significant difference was observed in serum PAB values. When assessed for individual components of MS, increased serum anti-Hsp27 was found to be higher in subgroups with elevated triglycerides, elevated blood pressure and reduced high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). Subgroups of patients with elevated triglycerides had higher PAB values. HDL-C was the only significant predictor of anti-Hsp27 in the population as a whole. CONCLUSION The evidence from this investigation indicates the presence of elevated anti-Hsp27 in patients with concurrent CAD and MS compared to those with CAD alone.