Korean J Med.  2013 Feb;84(2):229-237.

Impact of Isolated Low HDL Cholesterolemia on the Risk of Coronary Artery Disease: A 4-Year Community-Based Prospective Study

• Koo BK
• Moon MK

Abstract

BACKGROUND/AIMS
We investigated the effect of an isolated low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol level on the risk of coronary artery disease (CAD) in a prospective cohort.
METHODS
The Ansung-Ansan cohort was established for inclusion in a prospective, large-scale, community-based epidemiologic study to investigate chronic diseases in Korea. The data from a baseline survey performed from 2000 to 2001 and two subsequent prospective biennial surveys were analyzed. We included subjects without diabetes mellitus or a history of CAD at the baseline.
RESULTS
Among 8,438 total subjects, 0.8% reported newly developed CAD events during 4 years of follow-up. The subjects who experienced CAD events were significantly older (p < 0.001), had a higher body mass index (p = 0.003), and had a higher prevalence of hypertension (p = 0.005) and hypertriglyceridemia (p = 0.045) at the baseline. However, there was no significant difference in the baseline HDL cholesterol level between subjects with or without CAD events. Furthermore, although the baseline triglyceride level was significantly correlated with the baseline HDL cholesterol level (r = -0.404 in men and -0.460 in women; p < 0.001 in both), and Cox regression analysis showed that hypertriglyceridemia at the baseline was significantly associated with an increased hazard ratio for CAD events (hazard ratio, 1.822; 95% confidence interval, 1.029-3.225), low HDL cholesterolemia was not associated with a risk of CAD events.
CONCLUSIONS
Low HDL cholesterolemia did not independently increase the subsequent 4 years' risk of CAD events in this community-based Korean cohort.

Keyword

Coronary artery disease; Cholesterol; HDL

MeSH Terms

Body Mass Index
Cholesterol
Cholesterol, HDL
Chronic Disease
Cohort Studies
Coronary Artery Disease
Coronary Vessels
Data Collection
Diabetes Mellitus
Epidemiologic Studies
Follow-Up Studies
Humans
Hypertension
Hypertriglyceridemia
Korea
Lipoproteins
Male
Prevalence
Prospective Studies
Cholesterol
Cholesterol, HDL
Lipoproteins