A comparison of fatty acid composition of cholesteryl esters in subjects at various concentrations of serum lipid.

We have evaluated the fatty acid composition of high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesteryl esters in serum specimens of 83 male subjects, divided into 2 groups: one with a mean HDL cholesterol of 0.75 mmol/L and the other with 1.25 mmol/L. The specimens with low HDL cholesterol concentrations had an increase in the proportion of palmitic acid (6%) and stearic acid (67%) compared with specimens and high HDL cholesterol concentration. When the fatty acid composition of the same specimens was evaluated in groups corresponding to the four major phenotypes (normolipidemic, hypercholesterolemic, hypertriglyceridemic and hyperlipidemic), we found statistically no significant differences between these groups in the HDL cholesteryl ester fraction. There were, however, statistically significant differences between the hyperlipidemic group and the other three groups in the proportions of palmitoleic, oleic and stearic acids, and in the ratio of oleic/linoleic acids of total cholesteryl esters.