The ratio of plasma high-density lipoprotein XXXX to total and low-density lipoprotein @entity165 : age-related changes and race and sex differences in selected North American populations. The Lipid Research Clinics Program Prevalence Study.

@entity1 @entity165
The distribution of the ratios of plasma high-density lipoprotein @entity165 (HDL-C) to total @entity165 (TC) and of HDL-C to low-density lipoprotein @entity165 (LDL-C) are presented for 6900 white and 495 black examinees greater than 4 years old. Measurements were obtained during the visit 2 survey of the Lipid Research Clinics (LRC) Program Prevalence Study, and correspond to a 15% random sample of 60,502 @entity1 screened during the LRC visit 1 survey. Age-specific means, medians, and selected percentiles are given by sex and by gonadal hormone use in white @entity1 . Apparent in these cross-sectional data was a consistent age-related decline in the ratio of HDL-C to TC for white male @entity1 , from a mean of 0.360 in the age group 5 to 9 to a mean of 0.211 in the age group 50 to 54. Thereafter the mean ratio increased slightly. In white @entity1 not using gonadal hormones the age-related decline in the ratio was only evident starting at the age group 35 to 39, from which it declines from 0.329 to 0.258 in the age group 55 to 59. White @entity1 using gonadal hormones showed very minor age-related changes in the HDL-C/TC ratio, varying around a mean of 0.300. The number of blacks examined was low and thus the racial comparisons must be interpreted with caution. For each gender, age-related trends were similar in black and white study @entity1 . Black @entity1 , however, had a higher percentage of TC carried as HDL-C than white @entity1 in all age groups examined. Black @entity1 had a higher percentage of TC in HDL-C than white @entity1 only below age 20; in the adult age range no appreciable differences were seen. Pearson correlation coefficients between the lipid, lipoprotein, and lipoprotein ratios are presented. The ratio HDL-C/TC correlated highly with the ratio HDL-C/LDL-C (greater than 0.92 for all groups) and the former may be a more conveniently determined surrogate for the latter. Although not exhaustive regarding the information it conveys about a lipid pattern, the ratio HDL-C/TC has the advantage of summarizing complex associations into a single numerical approximation.
