Table 1.
Baseline Characteristics of the Study Sample
| Characteristic | Women* | Men* | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cases (n=322) | Controls (n=322) | P Value* | Cases (n=418) | Controls (n=418) | P Value* | |
| Age, y | 60±6 | 60±6 | — | 64.5±8 | 64.5±8 | — |
| Current smoker, % | 26 | 26 | — | 9 | 8 | — |
| Body mass index, kg/m2 | 26.7±5.6 | 25.4±4.3 | 0.001 | 26.1±3.2 | 25.5±3.5 | 0.014 |
| Parental history of CHD before age 60 y, % | 20 | 15 | 0.073 | 15 | 12 | 0.26 |
| Postmenopausal, % | 91 | 88 | 0.30 | — | — | — |
| Postmenopausal hormone therapy among postmenopausal women, % | 33 | 35 | 0.55 | — | — | — |
| Aspirin use, %* | 26 | 30 | 0.28 | 40 | 33 | 0.035 |
| History of hypertension, % | 54 | 32 | <0.001 | 37 | 28 | 0.005 |
| History of diabetes, % | 17 | 7 | <0.001 | 9 | 3 | <0.001 |
| Alcohol consumption, g/d | ||||||
| Median | 0.9 | 1.1 | 0.17 | 4.5 | 7.5 | 0.006 |
| Quartile 1 to quartile 3 | 0 to 4.7 | 0 to 6.4 | — | 0 to 15 | 1.0 to 18.3 | — |
| Total cholesterol, mmol/L | 6.1±1.2 | 6±1.2 | 0.20 | 5.6±1 | 5.4±0.9 | 0.002 |
| LDL cholesterol, mmol/L | 3.8±1 | 3.7±1 | 0.077 | 3.5±0.9 | 3.3±0.8 | <0.001 |
| HDL cholesterol, mmol/L | 1.3±0.4 | 1.5±0.4 | <0.001 | 1.1±0.3 | 1.2±0.3 | <0.001 |
| Total:HDL cholesterol ratio | 3.7±1.5 | 3.4±1.6 | 0.08 | 3.7±1.1 | 3.4±1.4 | 0.002 |
| Triglycerides (mmol/L) | 1.6±1.1 | 1.3±0.7 | <0.001 | 1.5±0.9 | 1.3±0.8 | <0.001 |
| C‐reactive protein, mg/L | ||||||
| Median | 0.51 | 0.38 | 0.34 | 0.34 | 0.26 | 0.86 |
| Quartile 1 to quartile 3 (interquartile range) | 0.20 to 1.50 | 0.14 to 0.96 | — | 0.13 to 1.01 | 0.09 to 0.86 | — |
| Total plasma apoB, g/L | 0.92±0.28 | 0.88±0.31 | 0.14 | 0.97±0.28 | 0.90±0.26 | <0.001 |
| apoE in VLDL with apoCIII, g/L | 0.0046±0.0039 | 0.0040±0.0032 | 0.075 | 0.013±0.009 | 0.012±0.008 | 0.08 |
| apoE in LDL with apoCIII, g/L | 0.0091±0.008 | 0.0089±0.0065 | 0.80 | 0.0093±0.0064 | 0.0089±0.0062 | 0.30 |
| apoE in HDL, g/L | 0.0094 | 0.0086 | 0.58 | 0.0069 | 0.0067 | 0.48 |
| apoE:apoB molar ratio in VLDL with apoC‐III | 7.8±7.0 | 9.0±9.1 | 0.093 | 10.6±7.0 | 11.1±7.9 | 0.32 |
| apoE:apoB molar ratio in LDL with apoC‐III | 2.0±1.3 | 2.4±1.6 | 0.001 | 1.3±0.9 | 1.5±0.9 | 0.044 |
| apoE:apoCIII molar ratio in VLDL | 0.09±0.14 | 0.09±0.11 | 0.99 | 0.15±0.12 | 0.16±0.13 | 0.83 |
| apoE:apoCIII molar ratio in LDL | 0.12±0.17 | 0.13±0.16 | 0.42 | 0.10±0.08 | 0.13±0.52 | 0.24 |
Matching criteria were age, smoking status, and date of blood sampling; among women, additional matching criteria included fasting status at the time of blood sampling. The ±values are mean±SD. The body mass index is the weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in meters. CHD indicates coronary heart disease; LDL, low‐density lipoprotein; HDL, high‐density lipoprotein; VLDL, very low‐density lipoprotein; apoE, apolipoprotein E; apoB, apolipoprotein B; apoC‐III, apolipoprotein C‐III.
Data on women are from the Nurses' Health Study and include 14 years of follow‐up, and data on men are from the Health Professionals Follow‐up Study and include 10 years of follow‐up.
P values for the difference between patients and controls (unadjusted) were determined by Student t test for variables expressed as mean±SD values, by Wilcoxon's rank‐sum test for variables expressed as median values, and by the χ2 test for variables expressed as percentages.
Current aspirin use was defined as every 1 to 4 days per week for women and as 2 or more times per week for men.