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High-density lipoprotein cholesterol, a protective or a risk factor for developing coronary heart disease? Tehran

Seyed Saeed Hashemi Nazari1, Maryam Shakiba2, Davood Khalili3

  • 1Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health and Safety Promotion and Injury Prevention Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

Insights

High-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) shows different effects on coronary heart disease (CHD) risk in women. HDL-C increases CHD risk in premenopausal women but decreases it in postmenopausal women.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiovascular Medicine
  • Epidemiology
  • Women's Health

Background:

  • Controversial findings exist regarding the protective effect of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) against coronary heart disease (CHD).
  • Understanding HDL-C's role in different life stages is crucial for cardiovascular risk assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the differential impact of HDL-C on CHD risk in premenopausal versus postmenopausal women.
  • To clarify the relationship between HDL-C levels and incident CHD across the menopausal transition.

Main Methods:

  • A cohort of 3778 women aged 30-74 years, free of cardiovascular disease, was recruited between 1999-2001 and followed until 2010.
  • Baseline HDL-C and other CHD risk factors were measured.
  • Multivariable Cox proportional hazard models were used to analyze the association between HDL-C and CHD events.

Main Results:

  • Over a median follow-up of 9.6 years, 228 CHD events occurred.
  • In postmenopausal women, increased HDL-C was associated with a reduced hazard of CHD (HR per SD increase: 0.76; 95% CI, 0.63-0.92).
  • In premenopausal women, increased HDL-C was associated with an increased hazard of CHD (HR at age 30 per SD increase: 2.67; 95% CI, 0.98-7.29), with the risk decreasing annually with age.

Conclusions:

  • HDL-C exhibits distinct effects on CHD risk depending on menopausal status.
  • Premenopausal women experience an increased CHD hazard with higher HDL-C, a trend that diminishes with age.
  • Postmenopausal women show an inverse relationship, where higher HDL-C levels are linked to lower CHD risk.
Abstract

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