Purpose: Our aim was to determine the influence of waist circumference on the repartition of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) subfractions in patients with increased waist perimeter and one or more cardiovascular risk factor.
Methods: All 117 patients without lipid-lowering therapy underwent routine clinical, biological evaluation and isolation of the following lipid subfractions: HDL2b, HDL2a, HDL3a, HDL3b, HDL3c and LDL1, LDL2, LDL3, LDL4.
Results: Mean waist circumference was 102.9 cm for women and 109.4 cm for men, and 92 patients presented with metabolic syndrome. In the highest waist circumference tertile, when compared with the lowest one, an increased HDL3c (7.7% vs. 5.7% p=0.02) and a non-significant decrease of HDL2b percentages were observed with no difference in other subfractions. In multivariate analysis, only plasma triglycerides and waist circumference remained independent predictors of HDL3c percentage.
Conclusion: In our population, waist circumference was a strong and independent determinant of a shift in the distribution of HDL toward denser particles.