Alcohol-independent beneficial cardiometabolic profile of individuals with hyper-HDL cholesterolemia in Japanese men and women

• About 1% to 2 % of subjects showed hyper-HDL cholesterolemia (hyper-HDL-C).
• Cardiometabolic profile of subjects with hyper-HDL-C was investigated.
• Drinkers were more frequent in the hyper-HDL-C group than in the normo-HDL-C group.
• Obesity and dyslipidemia were inversely associated with hyper-HDL-C.
• The previously mentioned associations were independent of habitual alcohol drinking.

BackgroundThere is limited information on characterization of individuals with hyper–high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterolemia.ObjectivesThe purpose of this study was to investigate the cardiometabolic profile of individuals with hyper-HDL cholesterolemia in comparison with the profile of individuals with normo-HDL cholesterolemia.MethodsThe subjects were Japanese men and women who had hyper-HDL cholesterolemia (≥100 mg/dL) and their control subjects who had normal HDL cholesterol levels (≥40 and <80 mg/dL) and were matched for age or age and alcohol consumption. The cardiometabolic profiles were compared between the hyper- and normo-HDL cholesterolemic groups.ResultsBoth in men and women, body mass index, waist-to-height ratio, triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and hemoglobin A1c were significantly lower in subjects with hyper-HDL cholesterolemia than in subjects with normo-HDL cholesterolemia, whereas systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels were not significantly different between the 2 groups. In generalized estimating equation with adjustment for smoking and regular exercise, odds ratios of the hyper- vs normo-HDL cholesterolemic groups were significantly lower than the reference level of 1.00 for high body mass index, high waist-to-height ratio, hypertriglyceridemia, hyper–low-density lipoprotein cholesterolemia, high lipid accumulation product, and metabolic syndrome. The previously mentioned results were obtained both in age-matched analysis and in age- and alcohol intake–matched analysis, although the percentage of regular drinkers was significantly higher in the hyper-HDL cholesterolemic group than in the age-matched control group.ConclusionsHyper-HDL cholesterolemia was inversely associated with obesity, dyslipidemia, and metabolic syndrome in the analysis using alcohol intake–matched subject groups. Therefore, the association of hyper-HDL cholesterolemia with lower cardiometabolic risk is thought to be independent of habitual alcohol drinking.