Nose D, et al. - In this study performed on patients who were clinically suspected to have coronary artery disease (CAD) or who had at least one cardiac risk factor and underwent multidetector-row computed tomography coronary angiography, researchers studied the links between plasma levels of pro-protein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) and the presence of CAD. According to statin treatment, patients were divided into a non-statin and a statin group. In the non-statin group, significantly higher PCSK9 levels were detected in CAD patients vs those in patients without CAD. An independent association of PCSK9 levels, as well as age, gender, BMI, DM and HDL-C, with the presence of CAD was observed in multivariable analysis. Overall, plasma PCSK9 levels may serve as a marker for the assessment of the presence of CAD.