Evaluation of Serum HDL2/HDL3 Ratio in Lipid Metabolism in Postmenopausal Women

To investigate the clinical significance of HDL quality and TG-rich lipoprotein metabolism in postmenopausal women, we assessed the HDL2/HDL3 ratio and changes in CETP. Blood was sampled before a meal from 475 patients who visited our outpatient postmenopausal clinic (age: 52.6±9.1 years; 37-73 years) for quantitation of blood lipids. RLP-C was measured by immunoabsorption. HDL2 and HDL3 were measured by ultracentrifugation. CETP was quantified by ELISA. The HDL2/HDL3 ratio exhibited strong negative correlations with TG (r=-0.333; P<0.0001) and RLP-C (r=-0.285; P<0.0001). It also exhibited a significant negative correlation with LDL (r=-0.159; P=0.0062). However, it was not correlated with CETP, which plays a role in the transfer of cholesterol ester to LDL after cholesterol efflux (r=0.095, P=0.192). In the group in which plasma TG level was over 150 mg/dl, HDL2/HDL3 ratio exhibited no negative correlations with any of plasma TG, RLP and LDL level. These results indicate that hypertriglyceridemia in postmenopausal women reflects qualitative changes in HDL. An increase in particle size (increase in HDL2 ratio) associated with hypertriglyceridemia deserves attention as an indicator of abnormal fat metabolism in postmenopausal wome