Fibrinogen and other coronary risk factors.

The association between plasma fibrinogen concentration and other coronary risk factors diverged in previous studies, and the impact from complex lipoprotein patterns has not been studied. Our research involved 24 healthy subjects without coronary heart disease (control) and 22 patients who had survived having acute myocardial infarction before the age of 41 years (cases), overall 40 men and 6 women with age range of 34 to 54 years. In multiple linear regression analyses concerning control subjects, family disposition, social class, a score based on serum triglyceride and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol concentrations, and fasting capillary blood glucose concentration were significantly associated with plasma fibrinogen concentration (P < .00005, R2 = 0.81). For case subjects, the ratio between serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations was significantly associated with plasma fibrinogen concentration (P = .0018, R2 = 0.39). Thus, for healthy subjects, 4 coronary risk factors explained three quarters of the variation of plasma fibrinogen concentration, and for patients with a previous acute myocardial infarction, another coronary risk factor explained one third of the variation. In conclusion, the pattern of coronary risk factors associated with plasma fibrinogen concentration differed between those without coronary heart disease and those with a previous acute myocardial infarction.