Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Jan:341:34-42.
doi: 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2021.12.007. Epub 2021 Dec 16.

Association of adolescent lipoprotein subclass profile with carotid intima-media thickness and comparison to adults: Prospective population-based cohort studies

Raimund Pechlaner  1 , Nele Friedrich  2 , Anna Staudt  3 , Nina Gande  3 , Benoît Bernar  4 , Katharina Stock  5 , Sophia J Kiechl  6 , Christoph Hochmayr  3 , Andrea Griesmacher  7 , Astrid Petersmann  8 , Kathrin Budde  9 , Hermann Stuppner  10 , Sonja Sturm  10 , Marcus Dörr  11 , Ulf Schminke  12 , Claire Cannet  13 , Fang Fang  13 , Hartmut Schäfer  13 , Manfred Spraul  13 , Ralf Geiger  14 , Manuel Mayr  15 , Matthias Nauck  2 , Stefan Kiechl  16 , Ursula Kiechl-Kohlendorfer  3 , Michael Knoflach  1 ; Early Vascular Ageing (EVA) Study Group
Collaborators, Affiliations

Association of adolescent lipoprotein subclass profile with carotid intima-media thickness and comparison to adults: Prospective population-based cohort studies

Raimund Pechlaner et al. Atherosclerosis. 2022 Jan.

Abstract

Background and aims: Assessment of comprehensive lipoprotein subclass profiles in adolescents and their relation to vascular disease may enhance our understanding of the development of dyslipidemia in early life and inform early vascular prevention.

Methods: Nuclear magnetic resonance was used to measure lipoprotein profiles, including lipids (cholesterol, free cholesterol, triglycerides, phospholipids) and apolipoproteins (apoB-100, apoA1, apoA2) of 17 lipoprotein subclasses (from least dense to densest: VLDL-1 to -6, IDL, LDL-1 to -6, HDL-1 to -4) in n = 1776 14- to 19-year olds (56.6% female) and n = 3027 25- to 85-year olds (51.5% female), all community-dwelling. Lipoprotein profiles were related to carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) as ascertained by sonography.

Results: Adolescents compared to adults had lower triglycerides, total, LDL, and non-HDL cholesterol, and apoB, and higher HDL cholesterol. They showed 26.6-59.8% lower triglyceride content of all lipoprotein subclasses and 21.9-51.4% lower VLDL lipid content. Concentrations of dense LDL-4 to LDL-6 were 36.7-40.2% lower, with also markedly lower levels of LDL-1 to LDL-3, but 24.2% higher HDL-1 ApoA1. In adolescents, only LDL-3 to LDL-5 subclasses were associated with cIMT (range of differences in cIMT for a 1-SD higher concentration, 4.8-5.9 μm). The same associations emerged in adults, with on average 97 ± 42% (mean ± SD) larger effect sizes, in addition to LDL-1 and LDL-6 (range, 6.9-11.3 μm) and HDL-2 to HDL-4, ApoA1, and ApoA2 (range, -7.0 to -17.7 μm).

Conclusions: Adolescents showed a markedly different and more favorable lipoprotein profile compared to adults. Dense LDL subclasses were the only subclasses associated with cIMT in adolescents, implicating them as the potential preferred therapeutic target for primary prevention of cardiovascular disease at this age. In adults, associations with cIMT were approximately twice as large as in adolescents, and HDL-related measures were additionally associated with cIMT.

Keywords: Adolescents; Cholesterol; Intima-media thickness; Lipoproteins; Prevention.

PubMed Disclaimer

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources