Relationship between low levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and metabolic syndrome in Turkish patients

Objective - It is stated that high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels are low in Turkish people and that this may be related to genetic factors. Low HDL-C is a parameter of the metabolic syndrome (MetS). In this study, the relationship between low HDL-C levels and MetS has been investigated. Methods and results -A total of 720 successive patients, 20years or older, were categorized into two groups, as those with low-HDL-C (in men < 40 mg/dl, in women < 50 mg/dl) and those without low-HDL-C levels (in men >= 40 mg/dI, in women >= 50 mg/dl).The groups were compared according to the frequency of the MetS and the averages of the MetS criteria other than HDL-C. Moreover, two groups were formed with normal (< 150 mg/dI) and high (>= 150 mg/dI) triglyceride levels and they have been compared with the average HDL-C levels.The frequency of MetS was 70.8% in the group with low-HDL-C and 24.2% in the group without low HDL-C levels (p < 0.001).The averages of the MetS criteria other than the HIDL-C were 2.17 +/- 1.19 in the group with low-HDL-C levels and 1.59 +/- 1.15 in the group without low-HIDL-C levels (p < 0.001). Average HIDL-C level was 48.90 +/- 13.40 mg/dI in the group with normal triglyceride levels and 44.41 +/- 10.26 mg/dI in the group with high triglyceride levels (p < 0.001). Conclusions - This study shows that low HDL-C is related to the MetS in our patients, a selected group of a population reported to have a low HIDL-C average.