[Low HDL cholesterol in close relatives and patients with myocardial infarct].

Male patients aged 40 to 59 who had had acute myocardial infarction three months previously displayed a lower HDL cholesterol than the HDL cholesterol of an apparently healthy control group. The male first degree relatives of patients with acute myocardial infarction, like the patients with coronary disease, had a low HDL cholesterol which differed significantly from the HDL cholesterol of the control group. Low HDL cholesterol appears to be a better "marker" of patients with coronary disease and relatives of patients with acute myocardial infarction than serum cholesterol and triglycerides. The importance of low HDL' cholesterol could be related to the role of HDL in the cholesterol transport system from the peripheral tissues.