What are the measurement, potential role, utility, and current status of non-HDL-cholesterol and apolipoprotein B compared with LDL-cholesterol in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk assessment?
ApoB Home Test Kit (Pathology 2018, PMID 30595507) — evidence suggests non-HDL-cholesterol and apoB are superior to LDL-cholesterol in predicting ASCVD risk and are designated as secondary targets in some guidelines. No numeric effect size is reported for ApoB Home Test Kit in the source abstract.
Source: Pathology 2018, PMID 30595507 ↗ · Research map · How Magellan grades evidence · evidence confidence: low
Pathology · 2018 · PMID 30595507 · DOI 10.1016/j.pathol.2018.11.006
Non-HDL-cholesterol and apolipoprotein B may be better indicators of heart disease risk than LDL-cholesterol, especially in certain individuals.
The question
What are the measurement, potential role, utility, and current status of non-HDL-cholesterol and apolipoprotein B compared with LDL-cholesterol in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk assessment?
What they tested
The authors hypothesize that non-HDL-cholesterol and apolipoprotein B (apoB) may be superior to LDL-cholesterol in predicting ASCVD risk, particularly in certain patient populations.
How they did it
This study is a review of existing literature, examining the measurement, potential role, utility, and current status of non-HDL-cholesterol and apoB in comparison to LDL-cholesterol for ASCVD risk assessment.
What they found
LDL-cholesterol is a primary therapeutic target for ASCVD, but its estimation via the Friedewald equation has limitations, and direct measures are not standardized. Non-HDL-cholesterol includes remnant cholesterol and is independent of triglyceride variability, but it is affected by non-specificity bias of direct HDL-cholesterol methods. ApoB measures the number of atherogenic lipoproteins, and its methods are standardized, though it incurs an additional cost. Non-HDL-cholesterol and apoB are more accurate than LDL-cholesterol in individuals with hypertriglyceridemia, in non-fasting samples, and in those with very low LDL-cholesterol. Evidence suggests non-HDL-cholesterol and apoB are superior to LDL-cholesterol in predicting ASCVD risk and are designated as secondary targets in some guidelines.
What it means
Non-HDL-cholesterol and apolipoprotein B offer advantages over LDL-cholesterol in ASCVD risk assessment, particularly in specific patient groups, and accumulating evidence supports their superiority in predicting ASCVD risk.
Limitations
The review does not present new experimental data or specific quantitative comparisons from a single study, but rather synthesizes existing evidence.
The paper at a glance
| Title | Non-HDL-cholesterol and apolipoprotein B compared with LDL-cholesterol in cardiovascular disease risk assessment |
|---|---|
| Journal | Pathology |
| Year | 2018 |
| PMID | 30595507 ↗ |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.pathol.2018.11.006 ↗ |
| Topic | Cardiovascular & vascular aging |
Read the source: PubMed record (authors, abstract, full citation) ↗ · Publisher via doi.org ↗
Where Magellan uses this paper
This citation sits behind the evidence grade on the pages below. Grades are set from the research and are independent of affiliate commissions.
ApoB Home Test Kit
Large Mendelian randomization studies, prospective cohorts and meta-analyses — in one pooling of 233,455 people apoB was the strongest lipid risk marker, about 12% better than LDL-cholesterol — indicate that apoB is the predominant lipid trait driving atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, and that the particle…
Apolipoprotein B (apoB) is the primary structural protein of the atherogenic lipoproteins, with exactly…
Research describes the compound or intervention studied. It is not a claim about any specific product.
Molecules & mechanisms in this paper
Each of these is named in the paper’s own words above. Open the monograph for the full mechanism and its other citations.
Cite this page
These citations point at this summary. To cite the original paper with its full author list, use the PubMed record or doi.org.
Magellan Longevity. (2026). What are the measurement, potential role, utility, and current status of non-HDL-cholesterol and apolipoprotein B compared with LDL-cholesterol in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk assessment? [Plain-English summary of Pathology 2018, PMID 30595507, DOI 10.1016/j.pathol.2018.11.006]. Magellan Longevity. https://magellanlongevity.com/study/d30595507.html@misc{magellan_d30595507,
title = {What are the measurement, potential role, utility, and current status of non-HDL-cholesterol and apolipoprotein B compared with LDL-cholesterol in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk assessment?},
author = {{Magellan Longevity}},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {\url{https://magellanlongevity.com/study/d30595507.html}},
note = {Plain-English summary of PubMed PMID 30595507; DOI 10.1016/j.pathol.2018.11.006; Pathology 2018. Reviewed by Gabriel Radu, DO},
urldate = {2026-08-11}
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