Small dense low-density lipoproteins cholesterol can predict incident cardiovascular disease in an urban Japanese cohort: the Suita study.
OBJECTIVE
Several lines of evidence indicate that small dense low-density lipoproteins (sd-LDL) are more atherogenic than large buoyant LDL; however, few prospective studies have addressed the role of sd-LDL in cardiovascular disease (CVD). We therefore examined the association between sd-LDL cholesterol (sd-LDL-C) and CVD in a Japanese cohort.


METHODS
An 11.7-year prospective study was performed using a general population aged 30-79 without a history of cardiovascular disease. Direct LDL-C and sd-LDL-C were measured in samples from 2034 participants (968 men and 1066 women).


RESULTS
During the follow-up period, there were 116 incident cases of CVD. The multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) of sd-LDL-C for CVD were calculated using a proportional hazards regression model after adjusting for age, hypertension, diabetes, use of lipid-lowering drugs, body mass index, and current smoking and alcohol drinking, and found that increasing quartiles of sd-LDL-C were associated with increased risk of CVD. We also determined that age and sex-adjusted HRs per 10 mg/dL of sd-LDL-C and HRs for CVD, stroke, cerebral infarction, and coronary artery disease were 1.21 (95% CI: 1.12-1.31), 1.17 (95% CI: 1.05-1.30), 1.15 (95% CI: 1.00-1.33), and 1.29 (95% CI: 1.14-1.45), respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
It was demonstrated that sd-LDL-C was significantly associated with CVD in a Japanese population, providing evidence of sd-LDL-C as an important biomarker to predict CVD.
Department of Human Health Sciences, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine.
Hidenori
H
Arai
Yoshihiro
Y
Kokubo
Makoto
M
Watanabe
Tatsuya
T
Sawamura
Yasuki
Y
Ito
Asako
A
Minagawa
Tomonori
T
Okamura
Yoshihiro
Y
Miyamato
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008074:Lipoproteins / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012016:Reference Values; D012307:Risk Factors; D014505:Urban Population
D015415:Biomarkers; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL; D008074:Lipoproteins