Measured Versus Calculated Small Dense LDL-Cholesterol and Cardiometabolic Traits in a South African Population

• Published in: Indian journal of clinical biochemistry 2019-07, Vol.34 (3), p.304-311
• Main Authors: Masoud, M., Kengne, A. P., Erasmus, R. T., Hon, G. M., Macharia, M., Matsha, T. E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Analysis; Biochemistry; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Blood cholesterol; Body mass index; Chemistry/Food Science; Cholesterol; Density; Diabetes; Diabetes mellitus; Enzymes; High density lipoprotein; Life Sciences; Low density lipoprotein; Low density lipoproteins; Measurement; Medical screening; Metabolic disorders; Microbiology; Original; Original Research Article; Pathology; Population; Population density; Population levels; Prediabetic state; Risk factors
• ISSN: 0970-1915; 0974-0422
• DOI: 10.1007/s12291-018-0748-8

Small-dense low density lipoprotein (sdLDL) is increasingly viewed as a marker for evaluating atherogenic risk, however its clinical uptake is hampered by the cumbersomeness of available methods. Consequently, a number of alternative methods for the estimation of sdLDL have been developed and none have been tested in a population from Africa. We evaluated an equation to estimate sdLDL-C from classic lipid parameters in South Africans. This is a cross-sectional study involving 1550 participants in which direct measurement of sdLDL in 237 participants was performed using a homogeneous enzymatic assay. Their mean age (standard deviation, SD) was 54.2 (14.7) years. 156 (65.8%) were normotolerant, 29 (12.2%) prediabetes, 17 (7.2%) screen detected diabetes and 35 (14.8%) known diabetes. Measured sdLDL values ranged from 0.17 to 3.39 versus—1.85 to 2.52 mmol/L calculated sdLDL. There was a significant positive correlation between the two measurements with a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.659 (95%CI: 0.581–0.726). In a regression model, the adjusted R 2 was 0.440 after adding age, 0.441 after further adding gender, then 0.443 with dysglycemia and lastly 0.447 upon adding body mass index. With the exception of HDL-cholesterol levels that decreased across increasing quintiles of calculated sdLDL, our data showed significant correlations between sdLDL and cardiometabolic risk factors, all p values