Relations of lipid parameters, other variables with carotid intima-media thickness and plaque in the general Chinese adults: an observational study

Background: It has been reported that non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C) and lipid ratios, including total cholesterol (TC) / high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) / HDL-C, are better predictors for atherosclerosis than conventional lipid profiles. However, there have been few studies comparing the predictive values of different lipid parameters for early atherosclerosis. The aim of this study was to determine the relevant factors of carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) and plaque in the general Chinese adults and analyze the predictive values of different lipid parameters for carotid IMT and plaque.

Methods: We collected the demographics, anthropometrics, and laboratory data of 311 Chinese adults without the diagnoses of acute myocardial infarction, stroke, heart failure, peripheral arterial disease, end-stage renal disease or malignant tumor. The carotid IMT and the presence of carotid plaque were evaluated by high-resolution color Doppler ultrasonography.

Results: Based on the cutoff level of 0.9 mm, the percentage of people with a thickened IMT was 8.4%. And the percentage of people with carotid plaque was 15.8%. Among the lipid parameters, the levels of TC, non-HDL-C and LDL-C were more closely related to carotid IMT and plaque compared with other lipid parameters in the univariate analyses. In multivariate analyses, age, gender and systolic blood pressure (SBP) remained significantly with carotid IMT, whereas age, gender, diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and the TC level remained significantly with carotid plaque. Non-HDL-C level remained significantly with carotid plaque after adjusting for age, gender, waist-hip ratio (WHR), smoking, drinking, SBP and fasting plasma glucose (FPG).

Conclusions: Age, gender, SBP are important predictors for carotid IMT. Age, gender, DBP and TC are important predictors for carotid plaque. TC, LDL-C and non-HDL-C have greater predictive values for IMT and the presence of carotid plaque compared with other lipid parameters, among which TC has the greatest predictive value for the presence of carotid plaque. The predictive value of non-HDL-C for carotid IMT and plaque is not inferior to that of LDL-C.