Effects of clopidogrel therapy on oxidative stress, inflammation, vascular function, and progenitor cells in stable coronary artery disease.

Background: Traditional cardiovascular risk factors lead to endothelial injury and activation of leukocytes and platelets that initiate and propagate atherosclerosis. We proposed that clopidogrel therapy in patients with stable coronary artery disease imparts a pleiotropic effect that extends beyond antiplatelet aggregation to other atheroprotective processes.

Methods: Forty-one subjects were randomized in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study to receive either clopidogrel 75 mg daily or placebo for 6 weeks and then transitioned immediately to the other treatment for an additional 6 weeks.

Usefulness of serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level as an independent predictor of one-year mortality after percutaneous coronary interventions.

Low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol are a marker of coronary artery disease progression and are associated with cardiovascular events. However, whether low HDL cholesterol is a useful prognostic indicator after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is not known. In a sample of 4,088 patients who underwent PCI we evaluated 1-year mortality and repeat revascularization as a function of baseline HDL levels classified into approximate quartiles of very low (<35 mg/dl), low (35 to 40 mg/dl), medium (41 to 47 mg/dl) and high (48 to 120 mg/dl) HDL cholesterol.