Associations between the lipid profile and the development of hypertension in young individuals – the preliminary study

Abstract

Introduction: Hypertension is the leading direct cause of death in the world and one of the most important risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Elevated blood pressure (BP) often coexists with lipid disorders and is an additional factor that increases CV risk. Nowadays, we are able to distinguish low density lipoproteins (LDL) and high density lipoproteins (HDL) subfractions. Except LDL also HDL small subfractions can increase the risk of CV events. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the associations between changes of lipoprotein subfractions and the risk of hypertension development. Material and methods: In 2-year long study 200 volunteers with normal blood pressure at the age of 19–32 years were included. Each volunteer underwent detailed medical examination, 12-lead electrocardiogram was taken at rest, echocardiogram, lipid subfraction assessment (using Lipoprint®) and two 24-hour BP measurements. Results: Mean total cholesterol concentration was 189 mg/dl (4.89 mmol/l), with mean LDL concentration of 107 mg/dl (2.77 mmol/l), HDL of 63 mg/dl (1.63 mmo/l), very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) of 40 mg/dl (1.04 mmol/l) and triglycerides (TG) of 89 mg/dl (1.00 mmol/l). Subfractions LDL 1–3 were most abundant, LDL 4–5 making up a marginal portion and LDL 6–7 were not observed. Whereas, subfractions HDL 4–6 were most abundant, in lower concentration was present HDL 1–3 and HDL 8–10. We showed that increased systolic blood pressure coreclated significantly with HDL cholesterol concentrations (p = 0.0078), HDL intermediate subgractions (p = 0.0451), with HDL-3 subfraction (p = 0.0229), and intermediate density lipoprotein-A (IDL-A) (p = 0.038). A significant correlation between increased diastolic blood pressure and HDL lipoprotein levels (p = 0.0454) was only observed. Conclusions: Obtained results indicating correlation between total HDL levels and HDL-3 subfraction concentration (for systolic BP) and the tendency to develop hypertension.