Use of serum cholesterol/triglyceride ratio to discern for which individuals the Friedewald formula can be used confidently.
The values of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol obtained according to the Friedewald formula (Clin Chem 1972; 18:499-502), or by the De Long transformation (J Am Med Assoc 1986;256:2372-7), were compared with the values obtained when the individual cholesterol/triglyceride ratio of very-low-density lipoprotein was used for estimating the contribution of this lipoprotein to the total cholesterol. We found that these formulas gave the greatest errors for individuals with a low serum cholesterol/triglyceride ratio. We propose criteria for deciding when the numerically calculated value of low-density cholesterol is appropriate, and when it is not.
González Estrada
M
M
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Biology, University of La Laguna, Canary Islands, Spain.
Rodríguez Ferrer
C R
CR
Astarloa
I R
IR
Lahera
E M
EM
D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood*; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000097:blood; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL / Q000097:blood; D003951:Diagnostic Errors; D006801:Humans; D006951:Hyperlipoproteinemias / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D008079:Lipoproteins, VLDL / Q000097:blood; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood*
D008076:Cholesterol, HDL; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL; D008079:Lipoproteins, VLDL; D014280:Triglycerides; D002784:Cholesterol