Cardiology Letters 2017, 26(5):282-287

The mystery of HDL

Kaško M, Kaško V

Stryn Health Center, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the adult population. Atherosclerosis is widely considered to be the most important cause induced by risk factors, from which dyslipidemia is considered as the most complex factor. Coronary heart disease is the most widespread and most serious clinical manifestation of systemic atherosclerosis. The main pillar of the diagnostics and treatment of clinical manifestations of atherosclerosis is the examination of the lipid spectrum. In clinical practice, the effects of the HDL class are measured only by determining the concentration of HDL cholesterol. It is questionable whether this clinical approach provides sufficient information to evaluate both the overall cardiovascular risk and the effect of hypolipidemic therapy. The possibility to identify constellations / subpopulations of HDL could be beneficial in detecting a dysfunctional lipoprotein profile as a very early pathological condition of the cardiovascular system.

Keywords: HDL cholesterol; lipoprotein subfractions; atherosclerosis; coronary heart disease

Published: May 1, 2017  Show citation