Recent in vitro experiments indicated that human resistin increases the number of lipoprotein particles secreted by the human hepatocytes and also influences their quality, in terms of generating more proatherogenic lipid particles. The aim of this study was to investigate associations of plasma resistin and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) resistin mRNA levels with different prevalence of small, dense low‐density lipoprotein particles (sdLDL) in patients with indications for coronary angiography.This study included 65 patients requiring coronary angiography. There were 41 patients without significant stenosis and 24 patients with significant stenosis in at least one major coronary artery. Circulating resistin was measured by ELISA; PBMC resistin mRNA was determined by real‐time PCR. LDL and HDL subclasses were determined by gradient gel electrophoresis.Plasma resistin (P=0.031) and PBMCs resistin mRNA (P=0.004) were significantly higher in patients with proportion of sdLDL particles ≥50%, compared to the group with relative proportion of sdLDL particles <50%. Plasma resistin correlated positively with creatinine (r=0.456, P<0.001) and resistin mRNA (r=0.298, P=0.014) but negatively with BMI (r=‐0.254, P=0.034) and TC (r=‐0.286, P=0.021). Multiple linear regression analysis revealed LDL particle diameter as the only independent predictor of resistin mRNA (R2=0.258; adjR2=0.190).A significant association between resistin, both PBMCs mRNA and plasma protein, and the relative proportion of sdLDL particles in the circulation of CAD patients has been established, which implies that increased gene expression of resistin in PBMCs and higher resistin concentration in plasma are related to pro‐atherogenicLDL particle phenotype. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.