INTERMEDIATE-DENSITY LIPOPROTEINS AND PROGRESSION OF CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE IN HYPERCHOLESTEROLAEMIC MEN

Lipoprotein mass concentrations were measured by analytical ultracentrifugation in a subset of 57 hypercholesterolaemic male participants in the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Type II Coronary Intervention Study. 2-year changes in levels of intermediate-density lipoproteins (IDL) of flotation rate 12-20 were strongly predictive of progression of coronary artery disease at 5 years. Changes in serum mass concentrations of low-density lipoproteins (LDL; flotation rate 0-12), very-low-density lipoproteins (VLDL; flotation rate 20-400), high-density lipoproteins (HDL), and the HDL2 and HDL3 subfractions did not differ significantly between men with and without definite progression of coronary artery disease. The relation of IDL mass to disease progression remained significant (p