Relation between high density lipoprotein particles concentration and cardiovascular events: a meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Trails aimed at raising high density lipoprotein(HDL) cholesterol concentration failed to make better cardiovascular outcomes. HDL particles may be better biomarkers reflecting properties of HDL. This meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the relation between blood HDL particles level and cardiovascular events. METHODS: PubMed and other databases were searched for eligible studies and NewCastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale(NOS) was used to assess the quality of included studies. A random or fixed-effect model was applied to calculate the pooled hazard ratio(HR). RESULTS: Twelve studies were finally included. The pooled HR(95%confidence interval) for per standard deviation(SD) increment and top quartile versus bottom quartile were 0.79(0.72,0.86) and 0.65(0.57,0.75), respectively. Subgroup analysis suggested that HR was significantly lower in subjects with a cardiovascular disease(CVD) history than that of people without established CVD. Subclass analysis indicated that HRs for per SD increment of small(0.85) and medium(0.84) HDL particles were significantly lower than that of large HDL particles(0.96). CONCLUSIONS: HDL particle level in blood was inversely related to CVD events, indicating that HDL particles maybe a protective factor in patients with CVD, thus making HDL particles a potential biomarker and therapy target.