LDL-C/HDL-C Ratio Predicts Carotid Intima-Media Thickness Progression Better Than HDL-C or LDL-C Alone

Table 1

Characteristics of subjects at baseline in 1999.

	Men	Women	Total
N	794	1126	1920
Age, years	63.6±11.0	62.1±11.0	62.7±11.0
Systolic blood pressure, mmHg	135.7±21.6	131.7±21.4	133.4±21.6
Diastolic blood pressure, mmHg	81.0±13.1*	76.9±11.4	78.6±12.3
Body mass index, kg/m^2	23.2±3.0	23.0±3.2	23.1±3.1
Waist, cm	81.6±8.6	73.8±8.4	77.0±9.3
IMT, mm	0.75±0.22 **	0.67±0.18	0.70±0.20
Absolute difference of IMT, mm	0.03±0.02	0.04±0.01	0.04±0.01
Total cholesterol, mg/dL	188.8±32.8	207.4±33.8	199.8±34.6
HDL-C, mg/dL	51.6±15.4	57.9±14.3	55.8±14.0
LDL-C, mg/dL	118.1±31.2	128.5±30.3	124.2±31.0
Triglycerides^†, mg/dL	105.6±2.7**	82.8±2.4	98.5±2.6
Non-HDL-C, mg/dL	136.4±33.2**	149.3±33.8	144.0±34.2
LDL-C/HDL-C ratio	2.4±0.9**	2.3±0.8	2.4±0.8
Total cholesterol/HDL-C ratio	3.82±1.14**	3.74±0.99	3.77±1.06
Triglycerides/HDL-C ratio^†	2.07±0.05**	1.64±0.04	1.80±0.05
Triglycerides/LDL-C ratio^†	0.92±0.02**	0.74±0.02	0.81±0.02
Free fatty acid^†, mEq/L	0.51±0.01	0.56±0.01	0.53±0.01
RLP-C^†, mg/dL	3.52±0.09	3.47±0.09	3.49±0.09
HbA1c, %	5.2±0.8	5.2±0.7	5.2±0.8
Smoking, %	38.8	2.0	17.2
Alcohol intake, %	48.9	3.2	22.1
Hypertensive medication, %	20.5	19.0	19.6
Diabetic medication, %	3.9	2.6	3.1
Lipids lowering medication, %	2.4	6.4	4.7

^∗𝑃<0.05, ^∗∗𝑃<0.001, ^†Log-transformed values were used in analyses. IMT: intima-media thickness; HDL-C: high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; LDL-C: low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; RLP-C: remnant-like particle cholesterol.