Association Between Low-Density Lipoprotein-Cholesterol Level and Risk of Intracranial Atherosclerotic Stenosis: Results From the APAC Study

BACKGROUND: It is unknown whether plasma low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol level (LDL-C) can predict the occurrence of intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis (ICAS), especially asymptomatic (A)ICAS. This study investigated whether LDL-C level is independently associated with AICAS. METHODS: The Asymptomatic Polyvascular Abnormalities Community study is an ongoing community-based, prospective, long-term follow-up observational study with 3387 participants. AICAS was diagnosed by transcranial Doppler ultrasonography. The participants were divided into 3 groups based on LDL-C level. Cox regression was used to evaluate the association between LDL-C level and incidence of AICAS. RESULTS: During 2 years of follow-up, 9.98% of participants were diagnosed with AICAS. The incidence of AICAS (person-years with 95% CI) was 4.99% (4.48%-5.50%). AICAS incidence did not increase with increasing LDL-C level. Compared with the <2.6 mmol/l subgroup, the incidence of asymptomatic ICAS was not significantly higher in the 2.6 to 3.4 and >3.4 mmol/l subgroups after adjusting for confounding factors (hazard ratio=0.95, 95% CI: 0.86-1.03 and hazard ratio=0.96, 95% CI: 0.84-1.10, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: LDL-C is not an independent predictor of AICAS incidence in the Chinese population.