High-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels increase with age, body mass index, blood pressure and fasting blood glucose in a rural Uygur population in China

Abstract

To investigate the distribution of the serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLC) levels and its relationship with obesity, hypertension and diabetes in a Uygur case-control study on hypertension. A case-control (339 hypertensive cases, 272 normotensive controls) study on hypertension was conducted, and obesity, hypertension, lipid profiles and fasting blood glucose were analyzed. The demographic data, history of disease and lifestyles, including diet, smoking and salt intake, were recorded and three measurements of blood pressure were obtained by trained observers. The fasting serum lipid profiles and glucose were determined. The HDLC levels of hypertensive participants were significantly higher than normotensive participants after adjustment for age and gender (1.145 versus 1.117 mmol/l, P = 0.001, power = 0.867). After adjustment for related variables, the HDLC levels slightly increased with age, body mass index and fasting glucose (all P = 0.001, power > 0.80) in normotensive participants and only increased with age among hypertensive participants (P = 0.0001, power = 0.971). The serum HDLC levels in Uygur normotensive participants increased with age, body mass index, blood pressure and fasting glucose levels. This was inconsistent with the previous studies and the reason remained unclear. Further study is needed to elucidate both the environmental and genetic determinants of the novel distribution of the HDLC levels and their association with coronary heart disease in the Uygur population.