Abstract
Objective: We measured the cholesterol levels in low density lipoprotein (LDL) subclasses and LDL particle sizes by gel permeation HPLC in healthy subjects in an annual health check-up, and investigated a relationship between lipoprotein cholesterol profiles and metabolic syndrome (MS) risk items.
Methods: For 538 men (aged 21-69 years) who underwent an annual health check-up focused on MS, cholesterol levels in lipoprotein subclasses were measured by an analytical HPLC service (®LipoSEARCH) of Skylight Biotech Inc. (Akita, Japan). We investigated how LDL subclass cholesterol levels and LDL particle size were related to total numbers of MS risk items (MS score): obesity, high blood pressure, high serum triglyceride (TG) and/or low high density lipoprotein (HDL-C) and high HbA1c.
Results: All the MS risk items and MS scores were significantly (p<0.001) positively correlated with small LDL-C, and negatively correlated with LDL particle size, but not correlated with large LDL-C. In a subgroup with age over 45 and LDL-C less than 140 mg/dl (n=224), large LDL-C was significantly (p<0.05) negatively correlated with BMI, systolic blood pressure, HbA1c and MS score.
Conclusion: In a large number of healthy men, we confirmed the existence of a unique LDL subclass that was negatively correlated with MS risk items by gel permeation HPLC. The measurement of large LDL-C as well as small LDL-C by gel permeation HPLC may be very useful in evaluating MS risk in a healthy population.
