Cholesterol efflux capacity of healthy octogenarians does not associate with coronary calcium, plaque vulnerability and telomere length

Abstract

Aim: Traditional risk factors are less effective in predicting CVD risk in the elderly, suggesting the need to identify new biomarkers. Serum cholesterol efflux capacity (CEC) is an atheroprotective function of HDL recently identified as a novel marker of CVD risk. We evaluated the association between serum CEC and atherosclerotic burden or telomere length (TL), in a cohort of healthy octogenarians and compared their CEC values with those of a cohort of younger, healthy individuals.