Relationship of triglyceride and cholesterol concentrations with HDL-cholesterol and risk factor values in serum

The correlation of total cholesterol and triglyceride with HDL-cholesterol and the risk factor values (the ratio of total cholesterol to HDL-cholesterol) has been studied in serum samples of 173 men and 151 women. The samples were divided into normolipidemic, hypercholesterolemic, hypertriglyceridemic and hyperlipidemic groups. In most cases the relationship of the two major lipids with the risk factor value was better than with the HDL-cholesterol value. The number of specimens with increased risk factor was largest in the hyperlipidemic group followed by the hypercholesterolemic and hypertriglyceridemic groups. The number of elevated risk factor values was the lowest in the normolipidemic group but, even here, more than 20% of men and 10% of women had elevated risk factor values.