Table 2. Baseline Characteristics of the Participants when Divided into Quartiles of Small Dense LDL Cholesterol Level.
| Variables | sdLDL cholesterol, mg/dL |
P value for trend | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| < 33 | 33–47 | 48–62 | ≥ 63 | ||
| Number | 195 | 201 | 204 | 208 | |
| Age, year | 57.2 ± 7.9 | 59.3 ± 7.7 | 59.5 ± 7.7 | 59.8 ± 7.6 | 0.001 |
| Men, n (%) | 74 (37.9) | 90 (44.8) | 94 (46.1) | 101 (48.6) | 0.036 |
| Lipids and lipoproteins | |||||
| Total cholesterol, mg/dL | 180.33 ± 27.94 | 208.51 ± 27.46 | 220.42 ± 29.42 | 250.28 ± 38.13 | < 0.001 |
| LDL cholesterol, mg/dL | 98.45 ± 20.45 | 130.20 ± 20.36 | 143.68 ± 26.31 | 168.83 ± 33.05 | < 0.001 |
| HDL cholesterol, mg/dL | 63.12 ± 15.48 | 60.74 ± 13.30 | 55.98 ± 12.47 | 54.92 ± 9.91 | < 0.001 |
| Triglycerides, mg/dL | 73.0 (59.0, 97.0) | 97.0 (78.5, 118.0) | 140.5 (108.0, 177.8) | 188.0 (138.0, 247.8) | < 0.001 |
| Non-HDL cholesterol, mg/dL | 120.88 ± 21.93 | 152.38 ± 21.37 | 169.08 ± 22.96 | 201.23 ± 36.65 | < 0.001 |
| sdLDL cholesterol, mg/dL | 25.5 (20.7, 29.3) | 39.2 (35.6, 43.8) | 54.8 (51.1, 59.1) | 77.4 (66.2, 86.1) | < 0.001 |
| lbLDL cholesterol, mg/dL | 75.2 (63.0, 85.1) | 90.7 (78.9, 103.2) | 89.1 (72.8, 107.5) | 89.7 (69.6, 107.6) | < 0.001 |
| sdLDLC/LDLC ratio, % | 24.5 (22.1, 27.2) | 29.8 (27.3, 33.7) | 37.6 (33.7, 43.5) | 47.1 (41.5, 52.9) | < 0.001 |
| Lipid-lowering treatment, n (%) | 8 (4.1) | 20 (10.0) | 26 (12.7) | 40 (19.2) | < 0.001 |
| Fasting blood glucose, mmol/L | 4.67 ± 0.84 | 4.77 ± 0.72 | 4.93 ± 0.79 | 5.13 ± 1.42 | < 0.001 |
| Diabetes, n (%) | 6 (3.1) | 7 (3.5) | 14 (6.9) | 15 (7.2) | 0.024 |
| Blood pressure | |||||
| Systolic blood pressure, mmHg | 123.1 ± 17.5 | 127.5 ± 17.1 | 132.8 ± 18.8 | 131.7 ± 18.2 | < 0.001 |
| Diastolic blood pressure, mmHg | 77.4 ± 9.5 | 79.3 ± 9.6 | 82.4 ± 9.3 | 83.1 ± 10.3 | < 0.001 |
| Hypertension, n (%) | 68 (34.9) | 93 (46.3) | 104 (51.0) | 102 (49.0) | 0.003 |
| Body mass index, kg/m2 | 24.1 ± 3.4 | 24.6 ± 2.9 | 25.2 ± 3.1 | 25.9 ± 3.2 | < 0.001 |
| Obesity, n (%) | 24 (12.3) | 28 (13.9) | 36 (17.6) | 52 (25.0) | < 0.001 |
| Hs-CRP, mg/L | 0.59 (0.31, 1.28) | 0.72 (0.27, 1.57) | 0.90 (0.40, 1.88) | 1.03 (0.52, 2.13) | < 0.001 |
| Current smoking, n (%) | 18 (9.2) | 20 (10.0) | 19 (9.3) | 25 (12.0) | 0.412 |
| High cardiovascular risk, n (%) | 11 (5.6) | 18 (9.0) | 34 (16.7) | 79 (38.0) | < 0.001 |
HDL, high-density lipoprotein; Hs-CRP, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein; lbLDL, large buoyant low-density lipoprotein; LDL, low-density lipoprotein; sdLDL, small dense low-density lipoprotein; sdLDLC/LDLC ratio, ratio of small dense LDL cholesterol to LDL cholesterol.
Data are expressed as number (percent) for categorical variables, as mean (standard deviation) for normally distributed continuous variables, and as median (interquartile range) otherwise.