A cross-sectional study of endogenous tissue plasminogen activator, total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, and apolipoproteins A-I, A-II, and B-100

Abstract

Elevated levels of endogenous tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) appear to be a marker for preclinical atherosclerosis. At present, however, data describing potential relations between plasma t-PA level and established lipid risk factors for coronary atherosclerosis are sparse. To explore these potential relations, we measured plasma levels of t-PA antigen (t-PA:ag) in 633 apparently healthy men in the Physicians' Health Study as well as total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, HDL2 cholesterol, HDL3 cholesterol, and apolipoproteins A-I, A-II, and B-100. Overall, plasma t-PA:ag levels were inversely correlated with HDL cholesterol (r=-.1616, P