Increased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in patients with type 2 diabetes and its correlates: a cross-sectional, matched case–control survey

So far, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels and mortality were shown to have a U-shaped relationship. Additionally, high HDL-C levels increase the risk of developing a variety of diseases. However, a paucity of data exists regarding the characteristics of people with high HDL-C levels. The aim of this study was to assess the demographics and characteristics of patients with high HDL-C levels and compare their features with normal and low HDL-C groups.

As a cross-sectional, matched case–control study, a total of 510 patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) were enrolled in the study and categorized into three matched groups according to their HDL-C concentrations. The studied groups were matched by their age and gender. Restricted cubic spline (RCS) curves were designed to evaluate the relationship between height, blood pressure, triglyceride, and vitamin D concentrations with the probability of having high HDL-C levels. Furthermore, violin plots were conducted to illustrate the distribution of continuous variables within each group.

This study showed that having high HDL-C (more than 70 mg/dL) compared to having low HDL-C (less than 40 mg/dL in men and 50 mg/dL in women) was significantly associated with height (OR 0.918, 95% CI 0.866–0.974), systolic blood pressure (SBP) (0.941, 0.910–0.972), vitamin D (0.970, 0.941–0.999), and triglyceride (0.992, 0.987–0.998) serum concentrations. Further analysis investigated that having high HDL-C levels compared to desired HDL-C levels (40 ≤ HDL-C levels < 70 in men and 50 ≤ HDL-C levels < 70 in women) was inversely associated with having SPB values greater than 130 mmHg. Besides, sufficient vitamin D levels (above 20 ng/ml) could 0.349 times decrease the odds of having high HDL-C versus normal HDL-C levels.

Sufficient vitamin D levels, SPB values higher than 130 mmHg, as well as increased triglyceride levels, were inversely associated with having high HDL levels. However, higher height values were associated with a decreased likelihood of having high HDL.