SERUM CHOLESTEROL AND CHOLESTEROL‐ESTERIFYING ACTIVITY IN ATHEROSCLEROSIS*

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Abstract
Abstract: In a group of 240 elderly subjects (149 women and 91 men, age range 65 to 95) drawn at random from a population of 650 geriatric patients, the women showed a higher incidence of coronary artery disease and a lower incidence of cerebral atherosclerosis than the men.In the atherosclerotic patients there was a higher concentration of total serum cholesterol (213.4 ± 3.5 S.E. mg/100 ml) and a lower level of cholesterol‐esterifying activity (27.7 ± 0.8 S.E.) than in the healthy elderly subjects (180.8 ± 6.9 S.E. mg/100 ml, P < .001; and 46.8 ± 1.1 S.E., P < .001 respectively). These differences were more significant in women than in men. In general, the mean serum cholesterol level was higher in the women with atherosclerotic manifestations than in the men (223.4 ± 5.7 S.E. mg/100 ml versus 200.9 ± 2.8 S.E. mg/100 ml in the coronary artery disease group; and 220.0 ± 6.2 S.E. mg/100 ml versus 196.8 ± 7.9 S.E. mg/100 ml in the cerebral atherosclerosis group). These sex differences may be related to the hormonal changes that occur in women at the age of the menopause.The cholesterol‐esterifying activity of serum was significantly higher in the healthy group (46.8 ± 1.1 S.E.) than in the group with coronary artery disease (30.3 ± 1.2 S.E., P < .001) or in the group with cerebral atherosclerosis (25.5 ± 1.0 S.E., P <.001).