Total cholesterol/HDL cholesterol ratio vs LDL cholesterol/HDL cholesterol ratio as indices of ischemic heart disease risk in men: the Quebec Cardiovascular Study

Arch Intern Med. 2001 Dec;161(22):2685-92. doi: 10.1001/archinte.161.22.2685.

Abstract

Background: Total cholesterol (TC)/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C)/HDL-C ratios are used to predict ischemic heart disease risk. There is, however, no consensus on which of these 2 indices is superior. The objective of the present study was to present evidence that the LDL-C/HDL-C ratio may underestimate ischemic heart disease risk in overweight hyperinsulinemic patients with high triglyceride (TG)-low HDL-C dyslipidemia.

Methods: A total of 2103 middle-aged men in whom measurements of the metabolic profile were performed in the fasting state were recruited from 7 suburbs of the Quebec metropolitan area.

Results: The relationship of LDL-C/HDL-C to TC/HDL-C ratios was examined among men in the Quebec Cardiovascular Study classified into tertiles of fasting TG levels. For any given LDL-C/HDL-C ratio, the TC/HDL-C ratio was higher among men in the top TG tertile (>168 mg/dL [>1.9 mmol/L]) than in men in the first and second TG tertiles. Adjustment of the TC/HDL-C ratio for LDL-C/HDL-C by covariance analysis generated significant differences in average TC/HDL-C ratios among TG tertiles (P<.001). Greater differences in features of the insulin resistance syndrome (insulinemia, apolipoprotein B, and LDL size) were noted across tertiles of the TC/HDL-C ratio than tertiles of the LDL-C/HDL-C ratio.

Conclusion: Variation in the TC/HDL-C ratio may be associated with more substantial alterations in metabolic indices predictive of ischemic heart disease risk and related to the insulin resistance syndrome than variation in the LDL-C/HDL-C ratio.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Apolipoproteins B / blood
  • Body Mass Index
  • Cholesterol / blood*
  • Cholesterol, HDL / blood*
  • Cholesterol, LDL / blood*
  • Humans
  • Insulin Resistance
  • Logistic Models
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Myocardial Ischemia / blood
  • Myocardial Ischemia / epidemiology*
  • Proportional Hazards Models
  • Quebec / epidemiology
  • Risk Factors
  • Triglycerides / blood

Substances

  • Apolipoproteins B
  • Cholesterol, HDL
  • Cholesterol, LDL
  • Triglycerides
  • Cholesterol