Studies of serum lipoproteins of adolescent Japanese and U.S. (Bogalusa) children using a common laboratory.

A cross-cultural comparison of serum lipoprotein profiles was made between adolescent children ages 12, 15, 16, and 17 years from the United States (Bogalusa) and Japan using a common laboratory. Characteristically, adolescent white children have relatively low total and alpha-lipoprotein cholesterol levels and high pre-beta-lipoprotein cholesterol, while black children have high total and alpha-lipoprotein cholesterol levels and low triglycerides; Japanese children, in contrast, have high total and beta-lipoprotein cholesterol and disproportionately high triglyceride levels in relation to low levels of pre-beta-lipoprotein cholesterol. The sex-related differences were similar among Japanese and white children, with boys showing lower alpha-lipoprotein cholesterol and higher triglyceride levels than girls. In terms of changes in beta-lipoprotein cholesterol/alpha-lipoprotein cholesterol ratios with age, the values showed an increase among white boys, no change among black children, and a decrease among white girls as well as among Japanese children of both sexes. There was no inverse relationship between alpha-lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides or pre-beta-lipoprotein cholesterol in Japanese children. These observations suggest intrinsic metabolic differences among these race-sex groups. Such information should help elucidate environmental factors that influence cardiovascular risk among varied cultures.