Abstract P676: Association of Lipoprotein Subfractions With Atherosclerosis in the Baseline Sample of ELSA-Brasil Cohort Study - A Cross-Sectional Analysis
Authors: Tebar William R , Meneghini Vandrize , Goulart Alessandra C , Santos Itamar S , Santos Raul D , Bittencourt Marcio S , Generoso Giuliano , Pereira Alexandre , Blaha Michael J , Jones Steven R , Toth Peter P , Otvos James D , Lotufo Paulo A , Bensenor Isabela M 
Published: March 2023

Introduction:
The association between lipoprotein subparticles and atherosclerosis is not consistent in literature. For example, it is still unclear whether low-density lipoprotein particles (LDLP), high-density lipoprotein particles (HDLP), and triglyceride-rich lipoprotein particles (TRLP) were associated with carotid artery plaque (CAP) in adult population.

Objective:
We analyzed the cross-sectional association of LDLP, HDLP, and TRLP subparticles with CAP at ELSA-Brasil baseline.

Methods:
Data from 3801 participants (median age of 50.0[44.0-57.0] years, 54.3% of women) with no previous cardiovascular (CV) disease and without using lipid-lowering medications were analyzed. CAP presence was assessed by ultrasound images, while LDLP (total, large, medium and small), HDLP (total, large, medium and small) and TRLP (total, very large, large, medium, small and very small) were analyzed by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Logistic regression models included all lipoprotein subparticles simultaneously and were adjusted by sociodemographic (age, sex, ethnicity, education, private health insurance) and CV risk factors (body mass index, smoking, alcohol consumption, family history of CV disease, diabetes, hypertension), with odds ratios (OR) and respective 95% confidence interval according to 1 standard deviation increase in the predictor.

Results:
The prevalence of CAP was 33.9% (n=1287). Participants with CAP had higher age (median 55.0 vs. 47.0, p<0.001), higher prevalence of males (55.7% vs. 40.6%, p<0.001), of non-Whites (57.4% vs. 53.7%, p=0.028), and of lower education attainment (22.3% vs. 12.3%, p<0.001), as well as greater burden of CV risk factors than participants without CAP (current smoking [22.1% vs. 14.1%], family history of CV disease [29.7% vs. 23.6%], diabetes [20.1% vs. 11.9%] and hypertension [38.7% vs. 21.8%], p<0.001), LDL-Cholesterol [median 127.3 vs. 115.2, p<0.001] and Triglycerides [median 112.4 vs. 100.5, p<0.001]). Lipoprotein subparticles were majority correlated (p<0.05). Among the lipoprotein classes (total TRLP, LDLP and HDLP), only total LDLP (OR: 1.89 [1.47; 2.44], p<0.001) was associated with CAP. All the LDLP subparticles were associated with CAP: large (OR: 1.64 [1.27; 2.11], p<0.001), medium (OR: 1.38 [1.08; 1.76], p=0.010) and small (OR: 1.58 [1.20; 2.07], p=0.001). The TRLP subparticles of small (OR: 1.42 [1.11; 1.82], p=0.006) and very small size (OR: 1.37 [1.05; 1.79], p=0.022) were also associated with CAP.

Conclusion:
The LDLP (large, medium and small) and TRLP (small and very small) were associated with CAP beyond sociodemographic and CV risk factors. This finding is in line with CV risk burden of large LDLP besides small LDLP and highlights a potential role of TRLP in atherosclerosis. However, further investigation between LDLP and TRLP with CAP progression is still needed.