Associations of Cholesterol and Glucose with Cardiovascular Dysfunction in Black Africans: The SABPA Study

Abstract

The aim was to determine whether blood glucose or cholesterol is the more prominent contributor to cardiovascular dysfunction in 101 African men and 99 African women. We measured ambulatory daytime blood pressure (BP), carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT), and determined blood glucose and lipids in serum. High-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) (p = 0.002) and HDL: total cholesterol (HDL:TC) (p ≤ 0.001) were significantly lower, while serum glucose (p ≤ 0.001) was significantly higher in men. In single, partial, and multiple regression analysis, BP correlated positively with blood glucose in men. Furthermore, CIMT (B = −0.50; p = 0.009) correlated negatively with HDL:TC in men. While in women CIMT (B = 0.346; p = 0.015) correlated positively with glucose. In conclusion, subclinical atherosclerosis is significantly related to an unfavorable HDL profile in men, whereas in women, this link is stronger with fasting glucose.

• cholesterol
• glucose
• lipids
• African
• cardiovascular dysfunction

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The Sympathetic activity and Ambulatory Blood Pressure in Africans (SABPA) study would not have been possible without the voluntary collaboration of the participants and the Department of Education, North West province, South Africa. The authors gratefully acknowledge the technical assistance of Tina Scholtz, Sr. Crissie Lessing, and Dr. Szabolcs Péter. Research included in the present study was partially funded by the National Research Foundation, South Africa; the North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa; and the Metabolic Syndrome Institute, France.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflict of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.