Association of high-density lipoprotein subclasses and incident coronary heart disease: The Jackson Heart and Framingham Offspring Cohort Studies

AimsWe aimed to clarify the associations of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) subclasses with incident coronary heart disease (CHD) in two large primary prevention cohorts.MethodsWe measured cholesterol at baseline from the two major HDL subfractions (larger, more buoyant HDL2 and smaller, denser HDL3) separated by density gradient ultracentrifugation in 4114 (mean age 53.8 years; 64% female) African American participants from the Jackson Heart Study and 818 (mean age 57.3 years, 52% female) predominantly Caucasian participants from the Framingham Offspring Cohort Study. Multivariable adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) for HDL-C and its subclasses were derived from Cox proportional hazards regression models to estimate associations with incident CHD events including myocardial infarction, CHD death, and revascularization. Analyses were performed for each cohort separately and as a combined population.ResultsIn models adjusted for cardiovascular risk factors for the combined population, HDL3-C (HR 0.7...