Coronary-prone individuals (type A behavior pattern. Some biochemical characteristics

Studies of the plasma triglyceride, free fatty acids, cholesterol, glucose, uric acid, cortisol, insulin, growth hormone, and thyroxine values of relatively "coronary-prone" (behavior type A) and relatively coronary "resistant" (behavior type B) subjects were performed. The group of coronary-prone subjects not only exhibited abnormally high plasma triglyceride (both before and after fat feeding) and cholesterol values but also a hyperinsulinemic response to a glucose challenge. There was also suggestive evidence of a decreased content of growth hormone in the plasma of the same coronary-prone subjects. Plasma levels of free fatty acids, uric acid, glucose, cortisol, and thyroxine, however, were not elevated in these same subjects.