Associations of plasma high-density lipoprotein cholesterol with clinical chemistry data.

We examined data from the participants in the Lipid Research Clinics Program Prevalence Study for associations between high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and clinical chemistry tests. There is a negative relationship between serum thyroxine and HDL cholesterol: men 20-69 years and women 20-44 years with low thyroxine levels have significantly higher HDL cholesterol than those with high thyroxine levels. Women 45-69 years with hyperglobulinemia (> 3.2 g/dl) have significantly lower HDL cholesterol levels than those with lower globulin levels. There is a weak negative association between HDL cholesterol and serum uric acid in men 20-44 years and a stronger association in women. A weak negative association between HDL cholesterol and plasma glucose is present only in men 20-44 years and women 45-69 years. Subjects with high serum bilirubin or serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST, SGOT) values have higher HDL cholesterol levels that are statistically significant in men 20-69 years and women 20-44 years (bilirubin) and men 45-69 years and women 45-69 years (AST). There is a negative association between alkaline phosphatase and HDL cholesterol in women and young men. These results suggest that thyroid hormones may be involved in the regulation of HDL cholesterol, and that there are associations between HDL cholesterol and the clinical chemistry tests that are not necessarily explained by disease. However, in the whole population, the plasma constituents measured as clinical chemistry tests, or the mechanisms that regulate their levels, are not important determinants of plasma HDL cholesterol levels.