LDL electronegativity index: a potential novel index for predicting cardiovascular disease

Abstract

Ekaterina A Ivanova,1 Yuri V Bobryshev,2,3 Alexander N Orekhov2,4,5 1Department of Pediatric Nephrology and Growth and Regeneration, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; 2Laboratory of Angiopathology, Institute of General Pathology and Pathophysiology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia; 3Faculty of Medicine, School of Medical Sciences, University of New South Wales, Kensington, Sydney, NSW, Australia; 4Institute for Atherosclerosis Research, Skolkovo Innovative Center, Moscow, Russia; 5Department of Biophysics, Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia Abstract: High cardiovascular risk conditions are frequently associated with altered plasma lipoprotein profile, such as elevated low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and LDL cholesterol and decreased high-density lipoprotein. There is, however, accumulating evidence that specific subclasses of LDL may play an important role in cardiovascular disease development, and their relative concentration can be regarded as a more relevant risk factor. LDL particles undergo multiple modifications in plasma that can lead to the increase of their negative charge. The resulting electronegative LDL [LDL(−)] subfraction has been demonstrated to be especially atherogenic, and became a subject of numerous recent studies. In this review, we discuss the physicochemical properties of LDL(−), methods of its detection, atherogenic activity, and relevance of the LDL electronegativity index as a potential independent predictor of cardiovascular risk. Keywords: low-density lipoprotein, LDL, LDL electronegativity index, cardiovascular disease, atherosclerosis