Relevance of intermediate-density lipoprotein cholesterol to Framingham risk score of coronary heart disease in middle-aged men with increased non-HDL cholesterol

Abstract Background Cholesterol levels of non-high-density lipoprotein (non-HDL), which contains low-density lipoprotein (LDL), intermediate-density lipoprotein (IDL), very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) and chylomicron (CM) remnant, have been proven to perform a significant predictor of coronary heart disease (CHD) better than LDL-cholesterol regardless of triglyceride (TG) levels. The present study investigated the relevance of TG-rich lipoproteins (IDL, VLDL, CM) to Framingham risk score (FRS) predictive of 10-year CHD risk. Methods Lipoprotein profiles (cholesterol levels of HDL, LDL, IDL, VLDL, CM) in Japanese men (n=487) who underwent medical check-up were determined by using our developed anion-exchange high performance liquid chromatography (AEX-HPLC). Total-cholesterol (TC), TG, fasting blood sugar (FBS) and hemoglobin (Hb) A1c were measured by routine methods. The lipoprotein profiles, non-HDL-cholesterol, TC, and TG were examined on these associations with FRS. Results The lipid levels except for CM-cholesterol were significantly different between two groups (low FRS, Conclusions These results suggest that IDL-cholesterol may serve as a useful marker for CHD risk in Japanese men with increased non-HDL-cholesterol.