Background: Serum lipid concentrations are thought to be risk factors for the development of cardiovascular disease. The present study aims to investigate the prevalence of dyslipidemia and provide sex- and age-related reference values for triglycerides, total cholesterol, LDL and HDL cholesterol as well as apolipoproteins A1 and B by using modern analytical approaches.
Materials and methods: Venous blood and anthropometric data were collected from 2571 subjects of the LIFE Child study, aged between 0.5 and 16years. Age- and gender-related reference intervals (3rd and 97th percentiles) were established by using Cole's LMS method.
Results: Serum concentrations of TC, LDL-C, TG and ApoB were higher in girls than in boys. In girls TC reached peak levels two years earlier than in boys. Triglyceride levels initially declined until the school age. Until early adolescence there was a steady increase. The LDL-C concentrations in girls and boys followed similar patterns to that of TC. Up to the age of 8years, a continuous increase in HDL levels for both sexes was found. Due to the strong correlation between HDL-C and ApoA1 (r=0.87) or rather between LDL-C and ApoB (r=0.93), the respective percentiles showed very similar patterns. Dyslipidemia prevalence were as follows: increased TC 7.8%, increased LDL 6.1%, increased TG 0-9years 22.1%, increased TG 10-16years 11.7%, and decreased HDL 8.0%.
Conclusion: Age- and sex-related trends for all parameters are similar to those of the German KIGGS study. With the exception of HDL cholesterol, the prevalence of dyslipidemias in the German LIFE Child cohort are similar to the US-American prevalence.
Keywords: ApoA1; ApoB; HDL; LDL; LIFE-Child; Prevalence dyslipidemia; Reference intervals; Serum lipids; Total cholesterol; Triglycerides.
Copyright © 2016 The Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.