TABLE 2.

Relative proportions, cholesterol-to-protein ratio, and cholesterol plasma concentrations of HDL subclasses

	All Subjects	Men	Women	pa
HDL subclasses by cholesterol (%)
HDL2b	46.2 ± 11.2	43.2 ± 11.5	49.7 ± 9.6	0.002
HDL2a	13.9 [13.0-15.7]	14.1 [12.6-16.1]	14.1[13.3-15.4]	0.501
HDL3a	22.5 ± 4.7	23.3 ± 4.5	21.6 ± 4.9	0.069
HDL3b	9.2 ± 3.3	9.7 ± 3.9	8.3 ± 2.6	0.028
HDL3c	6.3 [3.3-9.3]	7.8 [4.4-11.1]	5.5 [2.6-7.5]	0.007
HDL subclasses by protein (%)
HDL2b	28.7 ± 8.6	25.8 ± 8.7	30.5 ± 7.8	0.005
HDL2a	14.4 ± 4.39	13.5 ± 4.4	15.2 ± 4.4	0.050
HDL3a	28.9 ± 6.5	29.6 ± 8.4	28.7 ± 4.8	0.489
HDL3b	14.1 ± 3.3	14.8 ± 3.3	13.7 ± 3.3	0.096
HDL3c	13.9 ± 8.0	16.3 ± 9.5	11.9 ± 6.3	0.006
Cholesterol-to-protein ratio
HDL2b	1.74 ± 0.69	1.88 ± 0.91	1.71 ± 0.44	0.216
HDL2a	1.02 [0.90-1.09]	1.07 [0.89-1.19]	0.99 [0.88-1.07]	0.036
HDL3a	0.78 ± 0.15	0.80 ± 0.17	0.75 ± 0.13	0.117
HDL3b	0.61 [0.53-0.72]	0.62 [0.49-0.72]	0.59 [0.52-0.70]	0.736
HDL3c	0.46 [0.36-0.73]	0.45 [0.36-0.68]	0.46 [0.35-0.71]	0.606
HDL subclasses -cholesterol plasma concentrations (mg/dl)
HDL2b	19.9 ± 4.8	18.6 ± 4.9	21.4 ± 4.1	0.002
HDL2a	6.9 ± 2.5	6.2 ± 2.4	7.3 ± 2.4	0.016
HDL3a	9.7 ± 2.0	10.0 ± 1.94	9.3 ± 2.2	0.069
HDL3b	3.9 ± 1.4	4.2 ± 1.7	3.6 ± 1.1	0.028
HDL3c	2.7 [1.4-4.0]	3.3 [1.9-4.7]	2.3 [1.1-2.4]	0.007

Data represent mean ± SD for normally distributed variables or median [interquartile interval] for nonnormally distributed variables.

^aMen versus women Student's t-test or Mann-Whitney U for variables with normal or nonnormal distribution variables, respectively.