Diabetic LDL Triggers Apoptosis in Vascular

This study compares the effects of LDL glycated either in vitro (LDLiv) or in vivo in diabetic patients (LDLD) on apoptosis, proliferation, and associated protein expres-sion in cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells. At 100 mg/l, both LDL species considerably increase apoptosis (LDLiv 63%, LDLD 40%; P < 0.05) compared with intraindividual nonglycated LDL subfractions. Considering its lower degree of glycation (LDLD 5–10%, LDLiv 42%), LDLD’s relative proapoptotic activity is 2.7-fold greater than that of LDLiv. Glycated LDL-in-duced apoptosis is associated with increased expression of apoptosis promotors (LDLiv: bak 88%, CPP-32 49%; LDLD: bak 18%, CPP-32 11%; P < 0.05) and is attenu-ated by caspase inhibitors. Glycated LDL’s antiprolif