Associations between remnant lipoprotein cholesterol and central systolic blood pressure in a Chinese community-based population: a cross-sectional study

Abstract Background The lipid profile is reportedly related to peripheral blood pressure or pulse wave velocity. However, no studies have investigated the associations between lipid parameters, especially remnant lipoprotein cholesterol (RLP-C), and central systolic blood pressure (cSBP). Methods This study used baseline data of a community-based cohort in Beijing, China. Participants who had been treated with anti-hypertensive or lipid-lowering agents were excluded. RLP-C is equal to total cholesterol (TC) minus the sum of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). An Omron HEM-9000AI device was used to measure non-invasive cSBP. The associations between blood lipid profile and non-invasive cSBP were evaluated using multivariable regression models. Results The 5173 included participants were 55.0 ± 8.5 years old; 35.7% (1845) of participants were men. Increased cSBP was significantly associated with increased TC, LDL-C, non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C), triglyceride (TG), and RLP-C but with decreased HDL-C, even after adjusting for possible covariates. When simultaneously entering individual pairs of RLP-C and other blood lipid parameters into the multivariable regression model, RLP-C remained significantly associated with cSBP, even after adjusting for other lipids. Compared with participants who had RLP-C levels in the first quartile (Q1), cSBP for those with RLP-C in Q4 was increased to 4.57 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.08–6.06) mmHg after adjusting for LDL-C, 4.50 (95%CI: 2.98–6.02) mmHg after adjusting for TC, 3.91 (95%CI: 1.92–5.89) mmHg after adjusting for TG, 5.15 (95%CI: 3.67–6.63) mmHg after adjusting for HDL-C, and 4.10 (95%CI: 2.36–5.84) mmHg after adjusting for non-HDL-C. Conclusions Increased blood RLP-C level was significantly associated with higher cSBP in a Chinese population, independently of other lipids, which indicates its importance in individual cardiovascular risk assessment.