Comparison of LDL-Cholesterol direct measurement with the estimate using various formula

Low-Density Lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLC) is the most important marker for the treatment of hyperlipidemia in NCEP-ATP III(National Cholesterol Education Program-Adult Treatment Panel III) guideline. Therefore, LDL cholesterol is pathologically meaningful, accurate measurement should be a top priority. Currently, LDLC is directly measured in most cases, but, the estimate is still used in mass health examination or screening test. This study is about the comparison of LDL-Cholesterol direct measurement with the estimate using various formula (Friedewald: [LDL-F=TC-HDL-TG/5], Nakajima: [LDL-N=TC-HDL-TG/4], Hattori: [LDL-H =0.94TC-0.94HDL-0.19TG], Puavilai: [LDL-P=TC-HDL-TG/6], Carvalho: [LDL-C=3(TC-HDL)/4]) for calculating more accurate value. We analyzed total cholesterol (TC), try-glyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLC), and LDLC levels of 210 subjects between June and November in 2011. Until now, the Friedewald formula is the most commonly used estimate for the LDLC. When Friedewald formula was applied, the correlation coefficient (r) was 0.940, showing high correlation. But, the result of the direct method was significantly different, compared with those of the Friedewald formula in triglyceride levels ${\geq}400mg/dL$(p<0.05). There was the highest correlation when we used LDL-P formula(r=0.947) in triglyceride levels <400 mg/dl. Also there was the lowest mean difference regardless of triglyceride level. Therefore, the study showed that TG/6 is more precise means of calculation than TG/5. On the other hand, the calculation of LDL-Cholesterol was underestimated, compared with direct measurement. It is necessary to have more data and modified Friedewald formula should be used for the accurate calculation.