HDL biology
CETP mass varies widely in healthy Japanese people with very high HDL cholesterol (Intern Med 2002)
Original title: Variability in cholesteryl ester transfer protein in healthy Japanese hyper-HDL-cholesterolemic subjects
Researchers studied 17 healthy Japanese people (5 men, 12 women) with fasting HDL cholesterol of 100 mg per dL or higher, from a rural area where hyper-HDL-cholesterolemia is unusually common (3.1 percent of healthy residents), to examine how CETP relates to this so-called longevity syndrome. Serum CETP mass, measured by enzyme immunoassay, was distributed across a wide range and was significantly positively correlated with LDL cholesterol, apolipoprotein B, and the LDL-C to HDL-C ratio. The authors conclude that hyper-HDL-cholesterolemia is not a single clinical entity but a mixture of different underlying conditions, with the LDL-to-HDL cholesterol ratio and LDL size potentially important for distinguishing them.
Original abstract
Objective: Hyper-high density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterolemia has been considered to be anti-atherogenic and is referred to as longevity syndrome. However, hyper-HDL-cholesterolemia induced by a cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) deficiency may not be athero-protective, rather being atherogenic in nature. In a rural area in central Japan, the incidence of hyper-HDL-cholesterolemia has been found to be rather high (3.1% of healthy people). We studied healthy Japanese people in this area with hyper-HDL-cholesterolemia, particularly in relation to CETP.
Methods: Serum lipids were analyzed, and CETP mass was determined with an enzyme immunoassay method.
Materials: Blood was drawn after an overnight fast from 17 Japanese (5 males and 12 females) with serum HDL-cholesterol (C) > or =100 mg/dl.
Results: Serum CETP mass in hyper-HDL-cholesterolemic subjects was distributed in a wide range. Serum CETP mass was positively correlated with low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-C, apolipoprotein (Apo) B, and LDL-C/HDL-C, with statistical significance. CETP was also positively correlated with LDL-C/Apo B.
Conclusion: These results suggest that hyper-HDL-cholesterolemia may not be a single clinical entity, but a mixture of various pathophysiological conditions, and that the ratio of LDL-C to HDL-C and the size of LDL may be important factors in classifying these conditions.
Summary written by cetpinhibition.org from the published abstract; figures as published. Page updated 19 August 2026. Methods.