Background: Studies have suggested that an elevated plasma concentration of apolipoprotein (apo) B coupled with obesity may be considered as an important risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD) than the traditional lipid factors. Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a multifactorial disease resulting from interaction among various hereditary, cultural and environment factors. Population specific studies are rare.

Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of body mass index (BMI), blood lipids and apolipoproteins with the CAD among the Khatri caste, which is an indigenous population of Northwest India.

Materials and Methods: The study was carried on 150 CAD patients and 150 normal controls belonging to the Punjabi Khatri caste ranging in age from 35-45 years. Height and body weight was measured using standard techniques. Blood was drawn from each subject to analyze serum concentrations of lipids and apolipoproteins.

Results: The study demonstrated that CAD patients had elevated BMI in both males and females than normal controls. Apo B levels were an important predictor of CAD. ApoA/ApoB ratio among CAD patients was 0.74 compared with 1.53 in normal subjects; controls had 105.79% higher ApoA/ApoB ratio than CAD subjects. Total cholesterol, LDL-C, triglycerides, LDL-C/HDL-C ratio of the two groups also showed significant differences. Prevalence of obesity in CAD patients was 70.7% compared with 10% in normal controls.

Conclusions: Apo B levels were found to the best predictor of CAD, even though significant differences were also found between CAD and normal subjects for other lipoprotein traits. Obesity was high CAD patients than normal controls.