Prevalence of lipid abnormalities among young moldovans

Abstract

Introduction: Dyslipidaemia is a recognized modifiable cardiovascular risk factor, acting independently or together with other factors. Lipid abnormalities are well-studied in different age groups(childhood, adolescence and adulthood), but its profile in young people is not enough documented. Young people tend not to appeal to health services, because they don’t present clinical symptoms. Our purpose is to reveal the prevalence of lipid abnormalities in the cohort of young population in Moldova. Materials and methods. The cross-sectional study was performed, involving 456 volunteers (144 men and 312 women), aged 18 – 29 years, apparently healthy and disease free, students enrolled in 2011 at State University of Medicine and Pharmacy “N. Testemitsanu”, in order to achieve the goal. Venous blood samples were collected after an overnight fasting. The serum was separated, aliquoted and stored at −70oC until analysis, no later than 6 hours after collection. All of them were subjected to following biochemical lipid parameters determination: HDL cholesterol, total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides, non-HDL cholesterol (calculated according to the formula non-HDL cholesterol = TC - HDL cholesterol). The above assays were performed on BioTek Synergy H1 Hybrid Reader, USA, using reagents from ELITech Clinical Systems, France). Results. Each biochemical parameter was characterized by the following statistical values: • HDL cholesterol for women was 1.30±0.245 mmol/L and for men – 1.24±0.230 mmol/L, significantly different (t=2.77; p=0.005), but with similar variability (F=1.14; p=0.388). • TC for women was 4.36±0.620 mmol/L and for men – 4.23±0.586 mmol/L, significantly different (t=2.19; p=0.029), but with similar variability (F=1.12; p=0.444). • Triglycerides for women was 1.47±0.460 mmol/L and for men – 1.45±0.240 mmol/L, without significant difference (t=0.44; p=0.662), but with different variability (F=3.67; p=0.000). Strong influence of gender on HDL cholesterol and TC parameters was identified.The estimation showed that over 52% from the studied young population (241 subjects) were found to have lipid abnormalities. The prevalence of hypertriglyceridemia, hypercholesterolemia and low HDL cholesterol was 11.8%, 7.3% and 40.9%, respectively. Conclusion.The prevalence of the asymptomatic dyslipidemia in young subjects in Moldova was estimated as high. This supports the need of implementation of the preventive strategies at young age.