Increased oxidized high-density lipoprotein/ high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol ratio as a potential indicator of disturbed metabolic health in overweight and obese individuals

BackgroundWe evaluated the qualitative characteristics of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) particles in metabolically healthy and unhealthy overweight and obese subjects.MethodsThe study involved 115 subject individuals classified as metabolically healthy and unhealthy, as in overweight and obese groups. Commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits were used to measure oxidized HDL (OxHDL) and serum amyloid A (SAA) concentrations. Lipoprotein subfractions were separated using nondenaturing gradient gel electrophoresis.ResultsAn independent association was shown between increased OxHDL/HDL-cholesterol ratio and the occurrence of metabolically unhealthy phenotype in the overweight and obese groups. The OxHDL/HDL-cholesterol ratio showed excellent and acceptable diagnostic accuracy in determination of metabolic health phenotypes (overweight group, AUC = 0.881; obese group, AUC = 0.765). Accumulation of smaller HDL particles in metabolically unhealthy subjects was verified by lipoprotein subfraction analysis. SAA concentrations did not differ significantly between phenotypes.ConclusionsIncreased OxHDL/HDL-cholesterol ratio may be a potential indicator of disturbed metabolic health in overweight and obese individuals.