Determination of non-HDL cholesterol in diabetic and hypertensive patients.

Recently, it has been suggested that non-high-density lipoprotein (non-HDL) cholesterol measure is a useful evaluation tool to assess heart disease death risk. The non-HDL cholesterol is defined as the value between total cholesterol and HDL - total cholesterol, and it involves the different fractions of lipoproteins: low-density lipoprotein, intermediate-density lipoprotein, and very low density lipoprotein, including highly atherogenic lipoproteins as very low density lipoprotein remnants. The purpose of this study was to compare the values of non-HDL cholesterol as a cardiovascular risk marker in a control population, and one diabetic and hypertensive. It was demonstrated that the mean values of non-HDL cholesterol in the diseased groups were higher than the values from the control group, whereas the low-density lipoprotein showed no marked difference in high-risk patients. Non-HDL cholesterol has shown to be a quick and simple way to estimate the risk of developing cardiovascular disease.