title: LDL size and risk of coronary heart disease in elderly men and women.
abstract: A predominance of small, dense, low density lipoprotein (LDL) particles has consistently been associated with coronary heart disease (CHD) in young and middle-aged subjects in cross-sectional studies. Recently, 3 prospective, case-control studies showed that decreased LDL size is a predictor of CHD in middle-aged subjects. However, it is not known whether decreased LDL size is mainly associated with premature CHD or whether it continues to play a role in CHD risk at older ages also. We performed a prospective, nested case-control study in 86 subjects (58 nondiabetic and 28 type 2 diabetic) aged 65 to 74 years who were free of myocardial infarction at baseline and who then had a myocardial infarction or CHD death during a 3.5-year follow-up (cases) and in 172 controls matched for sex and diabetes status but who remained free of CHD during follow-up. LDL particle size determined by gradient gel electrophoresis (268.2+/-0.9 versus 268.5+/-0.7 A, P=0.782) and the proportion of subjects with LDL subclass phenotype B (20.9 versus 21. 5, P=0.914) were similar among cases and controls. Furthermore, diastolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, apolipoprotein A(1), fasting glucose, fasting insulin, waist-to-hip ratio, and body mass index were not associated with CHD risk. However, smoking and increased systolic blood pressure, apolipoprotein B levels, and the total cholesterol-high density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio were significant predictors of CHD events both in univariate and multivariate analyses. Our findings indicate that LDL size is not a predictor of CHD events in elderly white subjects after controlling for diabetes status.
authors.affiliation: Division of Clinical Epidemiology, Department of Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, USA.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mykkänen
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kuusisto
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Haffner
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Laakso
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Austin
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL / Q000097:blood* / Q000737:chemistry*; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008970:Molecular Weight; D010641:Phenotype; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D008078:Cholesterol, LDL