Patients with CD36 deficiency are associated with enhanced atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases

Aim: the clustering of dyslipidemia,impaired glucose tolerance and hypertension increases the morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular events. a class b scavenger receptor,cd36,is a receptor for oxidized ldl and a transporter of long-chain fatty acids. because of the impaired uptake of oxidized ldl in cd36-deficient macrophages and from the results of cd36 knockout mice,cd36 deficiency (cd36-d) was supposed to be associated with reduced risks for coronary artery disease (cad); however,cd36-d patients are often accompanied by a clustering of coronary risk factors. the current study aimed to investigate the morbidity and severity of cardiovascular diseases in cd36-d patients. methods: by screening for cd36 antigen on platelets and monocytes using facs or the absent myocardial accumulation of 123 i-bmipp by scintigraphy,40 patients with type i cd36-d were collected,the morbidity of cad and their features of atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases were observed. screening for cd36-d in both cad patients (n = 319) and healthy subjects (n = 1,239) were underwent. results: the morbidity of cad was significantly higher in cd36-d patients than in the general population; 50% of patients (20 out of 40) had cad identified by bmipp scintigraphy and 37.5% (3 out of 8) by facs screening,respectively. three representative cd36-d cases demonstrated severe cad and atherosclerosis. the frequency of cd36-d was three times higher in cad patients than in healthy subjects (0.9% vs 0.3%,p<0.0001). conclusion: the morbidity of cad is significantly higher in cd36-d patients suffering from severe atherosclerosis,implying that the status of cd36-d might be atherogenic.