Association between remnant cholesterol and the risk of cardiovascular disease in Chinese population.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: Previous genetic, observational, and clinical intervention studies reported that circulating levels of remnant cholesterol was associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, whether remnant cholesterol can predict CVD events in Chinese population was not well characterized. STUDY DESIGN: This was a prospective cohort study. METHODS: We used the data of 9456 Chinese adults aged ≥45 years from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). Estimated remnant cholesterol was calculated as total cholesterol minus high-density lipoprotein cholesterol minus low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Cox proportional hazard models and restricted cubic spline models were used to assess the relationships between remnant cholesterol levels and CVD, stroke and cardiac events. RESULTS: During 7 years of follow-up, a total of 886 (9.37 %) respondents experienced CVD, 392 (4.15 %) experienced stroke and 544 (5.75 %) experienced cardiac events. In multivariable-adjusted analyses, the adjusted hazard ratios (95 % confidence interval) for the highest versus lowest quartile of remnant cholesterol were 1.14 (1.02-1.32) for CVD and 1.43 (1.12-1.82) for stroke, and each 1-SD increase of log-transformed remnant cholesterol (2.93 mg/dl) was associated with 5 % and 11 % increased risk of the CVD and stroke, respectively. Remnant cholesterol was not associated with increased risk of cardiac events. CONCLUSION: Elevated remnant cholesterol levels were positively associated with CVD and stroke in Chinese adult population, suggesting that remnant cholesterol could be considered as a preferential predictor and treatment target of CVD in Chinese population.