Affiliations: Ulm University Medical Center, Ulm. FRG | GSF-Medis Institute, Neuherberg, FRG | Institute of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Vienna, AKH, Vienna, Austria | Dept. of Clinical Chemistry, Klinikum GroShadern. University of Munich, FRG | Dept. of Social Medicine and Epidemiology, Ruhr University Bochum, FRG
Abstract: The relationship between plasma viscosity and various lipid and lipoprotein variables was studied in a large sample of the population. We found a substantial. positive linear association between plasma viscosity and total cholesterol and apoprotein B, and a small negative linear association with HDL cholesterol, and with apoprotein A1. Polynomial regression showed a strong quadratic relationship with HDL cholesterol in men. whereas no other variable revealed an appreciable deviation from linearity. The covariables age, smoking, blood pressure, body mass index. and alcohol consumption had only a small, if any, confounding effect. However. after adjustment for total serum protein a remarkable change in some of the associations was seen. We conclude that rheological mechanisms may be involved in the pathogenesis of ischemic syndromes in hyperlipidemias.
Keywords: Plasma viscosity, total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, apolipoproteins, epidemiological study
