Serum high density lipoprotein cholesterol in patients with abnormal coronary arteries.

Previous studies showing the inverse relationship between high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and coronary artery disease were based on myocardial infarction survivors and presumably normal subjects. To determine whether a similar relationship exists between patients with abnormal coronary arteries (ACA) and those with normal coronary arteries (NCA), the serum HDL-C and other lipoproteins of these patients and those of a group of presumably healthy control subjects (CTL) were determined. The ACA males had lower HDL-C and % HDL-C but higher TG, VLDL-TG, LDL-C/HDL-C and VLDL-C/HDL-C than the NCA and CTL males. They also had higher VLDL-C and % VLDL-C than the CTL males. Adjustment of HDL-C for serum TG eliminated the difference in HDL-C between the ACA and NCA groups but that between ACA and CTL groups remained. The ACA females had lower % HDL-C than the NCA and CTL females. They also had lower HDL-C but higher LDL-C/HDL-C and VLDL-C/HDL-C than the CTL females. The NCA and CTL groups did not differ in any of the lipid variables, although the NCA group values were intermediate to those of the ACA and CTL groups. Using various lipoprotein profiles, it was possible to classify the patients into the 3 groups.