Emeritus Chief of Cardiology,
Temple University,
School of Medicine,
Cardiology Section,
Philadelphia, Pa
To the Editor:
I was keenly disappointed that Dr Hodis and his coworkers
(Circulation. 1997;95:2022–2026) failed to refer to Gofman
and his work on the relationship between the intermediate lipoproteins
(SF 12 to 20) and
atherosclerosis. This failure is especially egregious
because Gofman's work and Hodis and his coworkers' work were both
done at the same institution, the Donner Laboratory, Gofman's work
preceding Hodis by almost a half century.
Gofman's work is also an excellent illustration of how a consensus
report composed by many distinguished investigators at the time and
chaired by the giant Ernest Page, who together with
Braun-Menéndez simultaneously and independently
described the "true nature" of renin and
angiotensin,1 was
wrong.2
The overwhelming denial of Gofman's work probably discouraged him and
other investigators from trying to determine the paths taken by the
individual classes of lipoprotein cholesterol.
Gofman was also a vigorous and vocal opponent of the Vietnam War.
No history of the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis (or
the Vietnam War) is complete without mentioning Gofman's pioneering
work on lipoproteins.
References
1.
Page IH, McCubbin JW. The Physiology of
Arterial Hypertension: Handbook of Physiology—Section 2,
Circulation. Washington, DC: American
Physiological Society; 1965;III:2163–2208.
2.
Gofman JW, Hanig M, Jones HB, Laufer MA, Lawry EY, Lewis
LA, Mann GV, Moore FE, Olmsted F, Yeager JF. Evaluation of serum
lipoproteins and cholesterol measurements as predictors of
clinical complications of atherosclerosis.
Circulation. 1956;14:691–725.
Associate Professor of Medicine and Preventive Medicine,
Assistant Professor of Toxicology and Pharmacology,
Director, Atherosclerosis Research Unit,
University of Southern California, School of Medicine,
Los Angeles, Calif
Senior Scientist,
Head, Department of Molecular and Nuclear Medicine,
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory,
University of California, Berkeley
Dr Soloff is correct in noting our oversight in not citing Dr
Gofman's pioneering studies, which demonstrated the association of
intermediate density lipoproteins with coronary heart disease. Our
findings involved quantitative measurement of atherosclerosis
progression rather than clinical end points, which were the focus of Dr
Gofman's observations. However, we agree that his work should have
been cited in our paper, particularly since the measurements were
performed using his original methodology.
Dr Gofman's many early contributions to the field of atherosclerosis
should be highlighted at every opportunity, and we welcome the
opportunity to do so here.
© 1998 American Heart Association, Inc.
Correspondence
Intermediate Lipoproteins, Atherosclerosis, and Gofman
Response
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