Objective: We have examined the association between the incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD) and plasma high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I), and 2 HDL fractions, lipoprotein A-I and lipoprotein A-I:A-II.
Methods and results: These parameters were measured in subjects recruited in France and in Northern Ireland in the Prospective Epidemiological Study of Myocardial Infarction (PRIME) Study, a prospective cohort study. Among the subjects free of CHD on entry, 176 in France and 113 in Northern Ireland suffered an ischemic attack (CHD patients) during the 5-year follow-up, whereas 6612 French and 2172 Northern Irish men showed no CHD symptoms (CHD-free subjects). All 4 HDL parameter levels were lower in CHD patients than in CHD-free subjects. After the cohort was divided into quintiles based on the distribution of HDL parameter levels, a significant (P<0.0001) linear increase in relative risk was observed for each HDL parameter level. However, regression logistic analyses showed that apoA-I was the strongest predictor (more powerful than HDL cholesterol) and that lipoprotein A-I and lipoprotein A-I:A-II did not supplement apoA-I in predicting CHD.
Conclusions: Among the parameters related to HDL, apoA-I appears to be the strongest independent risk factor.