Levels and changes of HDL cholesterol and apolipoprotein AI in relation to risk of cardiovascular events among statin-treated patients: a meta-analysis

SM Boekholdt, BJ Arsenault, GK Hovingh, S Mora… - Circulation, 2013 - Am Heart Assoc
SM Boekholdt, BJ Arsenault, GK Hovingh, S Mora, TR Pedersen, JC LaRosa, KMA Welch…
Circulation, 2013Am Heart Assoc
Background—It is unclear whether levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) or
apolipoprotein AI (apoA-I) remain inversely associated with cardiovascular risk among
patients who achieve very low levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol on statin therapy.
It is also unknown whether a rise in HDL-C or apoA-I after initiation of statin therapy is
associated with a reduced cardiovascular risk. Methods and Results—We performed a meta-
analysis of 8 statin trials in which lipids and apolipoproteins were determined in all study …
Background
It is unclear whether levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) or apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I) remain inversely associated with cardiovascular risk among patients who achieve very low levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol on statin therapy. It is also unknown whether a rise in HDL-C or apoA-I after initiation of statin therapy is associated with a reduced cardiovascular risk.
Methods and Results
We performed a meta-analysis of 8 statin trials in which lipids and apolipoproteins were determined in all study participants at baseline and at 1-year follow-up. Individual patient data were obtained for 38 153 trial participants allocated to statin therapy, of whom 5387 suffered a major cardiovascular event. HDL-C levels were associated with a reduced risk of major cardiovascular events (adjusted hazard ratio [HR], 0.83; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.81–0.86 per 1 standard deviation increment), as were apoA-I levels (HR, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.72–0.82). This association was also observed among patients achieving on-statin low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels <50 mg/dL. An increase of HDL-C was not associated with reduced cardiovascular risk (HR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.94–1.01 per 1 standard deviation increment), whereas a rise in apoA-I was (HR, 0.93; 95% CI, 0.90–0.97).
Conclusions
Among patients treated with statin therapy, HDL-C and apoA-I levels were strongly associated with a reduced cardiovascular risk, even among those achieving very low low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. An apoA-I increase was associated with a reduced risk of major cardiovascular events, whereas for HDL-C this was not the case. These findings suggest that therapies that increase apoA-I concentration require further exploration with regard to cardiovascular risk reduction.
Am Heart Assoc