Table 3.

Disease Stage-Associated Changes in Lipid-Soluble Antioxidant Content in Aortic Lesions

Lesion stage	α-TOH	CoQ10	α-TOH/CE	α-TOH/cholesterol
I–II	53 (31)	33 (15)	4.1 (1.5)	4.8 (2.2)
II–III	142 (79)	45 (19)	5.3 (0.9)	4.9 (0.8)
IV–V	347 (86)*	75 (21)	7.3 (2.5)	5.4 (1.6)
V–VI	148 (81)	78 (33)	3.5 (1.5)	2.0 (0.9)

α-TOH and CoQ₁₀ content in the lipoprotein-containing tissue supernate (SN-2) derived from aortic lesions were determined by HPLC as described in Materials and Methods. The data represent mean values ± (SEM) and are expressed as pmol/mg protein or mmol/mol CE or cholesterol.

*P < 0.05 compared with group I–II.