LAUSR

BACKGROUND To investigate the levels and clinical significance of serum homocysteine (Hcy), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), visceral adipose tissue-derived serine protease inhibitor (vaspin), and visceral fat-specific adipokine (visfatin) in elderly patients with different types of coronary heart disease (CHD). METHODS A total of 208 elderly patients with CHD admitted to our hospital were selected as the observation group, and 57 healthy volunteers who received physical examinations during the same period were selected as the healthy control group. The patients in the observation group were divided into a stable angina pectoris (SAP) group, an unstable angina pectoris (UAP) group, and an acute myocardial infarction (AMI) group according to their clinical diagnosis. The levels of serum Hcy, HDL-C, vaspin, visfatin, and coronary angiography Gensini scores were compared among the CHD subgroups and the healthy control group. Pearson linear correlation analysis was used to analyze the correlation between levels of serum Hcy, HDL-C, vaspin, and visfatin with Gensini scores in elderly patients with different types of CHD. RESULTS The levels of serum Hcy and visfatin in the observation group were significantly higher than those in the healthy control group (P<0.05), while the levels of serum HDL-C and vaspin were significantly lower than those in the healthy control group (P<0.05). There were statistically significant differences in the levels of serum Hcy, vaspin, and visfatin among the CHD subgroups (P<0.05). There were statistically significant differences in the Gensini scores and number of stenotic coronary arteries among the CHD subgroups (P<0.05). Pearson linear correlation analysis showed that the levels of serum Hcy, HDL-C, vaspin, and visfatin in the SAP group were not significantly correlated with Gensini scores (P>0.05). However, the levels of serum Hcy and visfatin in the UAP and AMI groups were positively correlated with Gensini scores (P<0.05), the level of serum vaspin was negatively correlated with Gensini scores (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS The levels of serum Hcy, vaspin, and visfatin vary according to the different types of CHD and are correlated with the degree of coronary artery stenosis. As such, these serum levels can be used as sensitive indicators for early detection and disease evaluation.