Risk for Behçet’s disease gauged via high-density lipoprotein cholesterol: a nationwide population-based study in Korea

• Published in: Scientific reports 2022-07, Vol.12 (1), p.12735-12735, Article 12735
• Main Authors: Kim, Yeong Ho, Kim, Hyun Jee, Park, Jin Woo, Han, Kyung Do, Park, Yong Gyu, Lee, Young Bok, Lee, Ji Hyun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 692/308; 692/4023; 692/699; Behcet's syndrome; Cholesterol; Coefficient of variation; Crohn's disease; High density lipoprotein; Humanities and Social Sciences; Inflammatory bowel diseases; Inflammatory diseases; multidisciplinary; Population studies; Population-based studies; Risk factors; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Vein & artery diseases
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-17096-0

Behçet’s disease (BD) is a chronic inflammatory disease. Low levels of plasma high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) are associated with Crohn’s disease, another chronic inflammatory disease. However, the effects of low HDL-C levels on BD are unclear. We investigated the effects of HDL-C levels, and variability therein, on the risk for BD. We used the Korean National Health Insurance System database to identify 5,587,754 adults without a history of BD who underwent ≥ 3 medical examinations between 2010 and 2013. Mean HDL-C levels at each visit were used to calculate variability independent of the mean (VIM) and the coefficient of variation (CV). There were 676 new cases of BD (0.012%). The risk for BD was increased in participants with highly variable and low mean HDL-C levels. In a multivariate-adjusted model, the hazard ratios (95% confidence intervals) for BD incidence were 1.335 (1.058–1.684) in a high mean/high VIM group, 1.527 (1.211–1.925) in a low mean/low VIM group, and 2.096 (1.67–2.63) in a low mean/high VIM group compared to a high mean/low VIM group. Low mean HDL-C levels, and high variability therein, are independent risk factors for BD.