HDL subfractions and very early CAD: novel findings from untreated patients in a Chinese cohort

Coronary artery disease (CAD) in very young individuals is a rare disease associated with poor prognosis. However, the role of specific lipoprotein subfractions in very young CAD patients (≤45 years) is not established yet. A total of 734 consecutive CAD subjects were enrolled and were classified as very early (n = 81, ≤45), early (n = 304, male: 45–55; female: 45–65), and late (n = 349, male: >55; female: >65) groups. Meanwhile, a group of non-CAD subjects were also enrolled as controls (n = 56, ≤45). The lipoprotein separation was performed using Lipoprint System. As a result, the very early CAD patients have lower large high-density lipoprotein (HDL) subfraction and higher small low-density lipoprotein (LDL) subfraction (p < 0.05). Although body mass index was inversely related to large HDL subfraction, overweight did not influence its association with very early CAD. In the logistic regression analysis, large HDL was inversely [OR 95% CI: 0.872 (0.825–0.922)] while small LDL was positively [1.038 (1.008–1.069)] related to very early CAD. However, after adjusting potential confounders, the association was only significant for large HDL [0.899 (0.848–0.954)]. This study firstly demonstrated that large HDL subfraction was negatively related to very early CAD suggestive of its important role in very early CAD incidence.