Simple and Partial Correlationships of Nutritional Factors to Serum High-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Levels in a Japanese Rural Population

After determining the normal ranges of serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, correlates of HDL-cholesterol were analysed in a sample of 1, 283 males and 2, 123 females aged 40 years and older in an agricultural area of Shibata City, Niigata Prefecture. The distribution of serum HDL-cholesterol was nearly a log-scale normal distribution curve. The median and the lower and upper normal limits were calculated theoretically and the median values were :40-49 age group, 51.9 mg/100 ml for males and 52.5 mg/100 ml for females ; 50-59 age group, 52.5 and 51.4; 60-69 age group, 51.4 and 49.4; over 70 age group, 49.4 and 47.9. There was almost no difference in HDL-cholesterol levels between both sexes. This was explained as possibly due to alcohol intake raising HDL-cholesterol levels in males. There was a positive association of HDL-cholesterol levels with reported amount of alcohol intake in males. Inverse relationships were found between serum HDL-cholesterol levels and obesity in any age group for both sexes. An inverse correlation between percent energy contribution by carbohydrate and HDL-cholesterol was observed in males. Caloric intake was positively correlated to HDL-cholesterol in females.