Concordance and Discordance Between Non-High-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol and Apolipoprotein B as Cardiovascular Disease Risk Markers over the Full Spectrum of Hypertriglyceridemia: A Cross-sectional Analysis of Lipid Clinic Data

Abstract

Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Lipid biomarkers are frequently used for prediction of cardiovascular disease risk. Triglycerides are routinely checked in blood work, and triglycerides are a key component of lipoproteins that contribute to atherogenic plaques, which cause cardiovascular disease. High triglycerides are a common condition in the general population. The relative effect of high triglycerides on the lipid biomarkers (non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and apolipoprotein B) for cardiovascular disease risk prediction is the focus of this thesis. Using cross-sectional lipid profile data from a large Lipid Clinic, we compared the correlation and concordance between non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and apolipoprotein B as cardiovascular disease risk markers among patients with mild, moderate, and severe hypertriglyceridemia. The findings showed that with higher triglycerides, there is lower agreement between the two biomarkers, which raises caution that they are not interchangeable, and further research is needed.