Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Lymphocyte count was significantly associated with hyper-LDL cholesterolemia independently of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein in apparently healthy Japanese

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Heart and Vessels Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the association between leukocyte subtype counts and hyper-LDL cholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia, and hypo-HDL cholesterolemia. Logistic regressions using hyper-LDL cholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia, and hypo-HDL cholesterolemia as a dependent variable and total leukocyte, basophil, eosinophil, neutrophil, lymphocyte, and monocyte counts as an independent variable were calculated adjusting for age, body mass index (BMI), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), smoking, drinking, and physical activity in apparently healthy Japanese men (1,803) and women (1,150). The odds ratio (OR) of hyper-LDL cholesterolemia for total leukocyte, eosinophil, and lymphocyte counts, the OR of hypertriglyceridemia for total leukocyte, eosinophil, neutrophil, and lymphocyte counts, and the OR of hypo-HDL cholesterolemia for total leukocyte, neutrophil, and lymphocyte counts were significant in men, and the OR of hyper-LDL cholesterolemia, for lymphocyte count, and the OR of hypo-HDL cholesterolemia for eosinophil count were significant in women. Lymphocyte count was significantly associated with hyper-LDL cholesterolemia independently of hs-CRP in apparently healthy Japanese.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Nikitin AG, Chistiakov DA, Minushkina LO, Zateyshchikov DA, Nosikov VV (2010) Association of the CYBA, PPARGC1A, PPARG3, and PPARD gene variants with coronary artery disease and metabolic risk factors of coronary atherosclerosis in a Russian population. Heart Vessels 25:229–236

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Ross R (1999) Atherosclerosis—an inflammatory disease. N Engl J Med 340:115–126

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Weber C, Zernecke A, Libby P (2008) The multifaceted contributions of leukocyte subsets to atherosclerosis: lessons from mouse models. Nat Rev Immunol 8:802–815

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Gerrity RG, Naito HK, Richardson M, Schwartz CJ (1979) Dietary induced atherogenesis in swine. Morphology of the intima in prelesion stages. Am J Pathol 95:775–792

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Galkina E, Ley K (2007) Leukocyte influx in atherosclerosis. Curr Drug Targets 8:1239–1248

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Saito I, Folsom AR, Brancati FL, Duncan BB, Chambless LE, McGovern PG (2000) Nontraditional risk factors for coronary heart disease incidence among persons with diabetes: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study. Ann Intern Med 133:81–91

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Margolis KL, Manson JE, Greenland P, Rodabough RJ, Bray PF, Safford M, Grimm RH Jr, Howard BV, Assaf AR, Prentice R, Women’s Health Initiative Research Group (2005) Leukocyte count as a predictor of cardiovascular events and mortality in postmenopausal women: the Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study. Arch Intern Med 165:500–508

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Zernecke A, Bot I, Djalali-Talab Y, Shagdarsuren E, Bidzhekov K, Meiler S, Krohn R, Schober A, Sperandio M, Soehnlein O, Bornemenn J, Tacke F, Biessen EA, Weber C (2008) Protective role of CXC receptor 4/CXC ligand 12 unveils the importance of neutrophils in atherosclerosis. Circ Res 102:209–217

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Huang ZS, Wang CH, Yip PK, Yang CY, Lee TK (1996) In hypercholesterolemia, lower peripheral monocyte count is unique among the major predictors of atherosclerosis. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 16:256–261

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Huang ZS, Jeng JS, Wang CH, Yip PK, Wu TH, Lee TK (2001) Correlations between peripheral differential leukocyte counts and carotid atherosclerosis in non-smokers. Atherosclerosis 158:431–436

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Huang ZS, Chien KL, Yang CY, Tsai KS, Wang CH (2001) Peripheral differential leukocyte counts in humans vary with hyperlipidemia, smoking, and body mass index. Lipids 36:237–245

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Tanigawa T, Iso H, Yamagishi K, Muraki I, Kawamura N, Nakata A, Sakurai S, Ohira T, Shimamoto T (2004) Association of lymphocyte sub-populations with clustered features of metabolic syndrome in middle-aged Japanese men. Atherosclerosis 173:295–300

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Nakanishi N, Sato M, Shirai K, Nakajima K, Murakami S, Takatorige T, Suzuki K, Tatara K (2002) Associations between white blood cell count and features of the metabolic syndrome in Japanese male office workers. Ind Health 40:273–277

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Nagasawa N, Tamakoshi K, Yatsuya H, Hori Y, Ishikawa M, Murata C, Zhang H, Wada K, Otsuka R, Mabuchi T, Kondo T, Toyoshima H (2004) Association of white blood cell count and clustered components of metabolic syndrome in Japanese men. Circ J 68:892–897

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Oda E, Kawai R (2010) Comparison between high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and white blood cell count (WBC) as an inflammatory component of metabolic syndrome in Japanese. Intern Med 49:117–124

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Tamakoshi K, Toyoshima H, Yatsuya H, Matsushita K, Okamura T, Hayakawa T (2007) White blood cell count and risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in nationwide sample of Japanese. Results from NIPPON DATA 90. Circ J 71:479–485

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Lao XQ, Thomas GN, Jiang C, Zhang W, Adab P, Lam TH, Cheng KK (2008) White blood cell count and the metabolic syndrome in older Chinese: the Guangzhou Biobank Cohort Study. Atherosclerosis 201:418–424

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Phillips AC, Carroll D, Gale CR, Drayson M, Thomas GN, Batty GD (2010) Lymphocyte sub-population cell counts are associated with the metabolic syndrome and its components in the Vietnam Experience Study. Atherosclerosis 213:294–298

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Muldoon MF, Marsland A, Flory JD, Rabin BS, Whiteside TL, Manuck SB (1997) Immune system differences in men with hypo- or hypercholesterolemia. Clin Immunol Immunopathol 84:145–149

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Nozawa N, Hibi K, Endo M, Sugano T, Ebina T, Kosuge M, Tsukahara K, Okuda J, Umemura S, Kimura K (2010) Association between circulating monocytes and coronary plaque progression in patients with acute myocardial infarction. Circ J 74:1384–1391

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Dragu R, Huri S, Zuckerman R, Suleiman M, Mutlak D, Agmon Y, Kapeliovich M, Beyar R, Markiewicz W, Hammerman H, Aronson D (2008) Predictive value of white blood cell subtypes for long-term outcome following myocardial infarction. Atherosclerosis 196:405–412

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Tani S, Nagao K, Anazawa T, Kawamata H, Furuya S, Takahashi H, Iida K, Matsumoto M, Washio T, Kumabe N, Hirayama A (2009) Association of leukocyte subtype counts with coronary atherosclerotic regression following pravastatin treatment. Am J Cardiol 104:464–469

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Giugliano G, Brevetti G, Lanero S, Schiano V, Laurenzano E, Chiariello M (2010) Leukocyte count in peripheral arterial disease: A simple, reliable, inexpensive approach to cardiovascular risk prediction. Atherosclerosis 210:288–293

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Papa A, Emdin M, Passino C, Michelassi C, Battaglia D, Cocci F (2008) Predictive value of elevated neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio on cardiac mortality in patients with stable coronary artery disease. Clin Chim Acta 395:27–31

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Bian C, Wu Y, Shi Y, Xu G, Wang J, Xiang M, Weng S, Jiang J, Ma J (2010) Predictive value of the relative lymphocyte count in coronary heart disease. Heart Vessels 25:469–473

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Sonmez A, Kisa U, Uckaya G, Eyileten T, Kinalp C, Yilmaz MI, Dogru T, Turan M, Kocar IH (2006) Asymptomatic kindred of patients with coronary events have increased peripheral T-cell activities. Heart Vessels 21:242–246

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Oda E, Kawai R, Sukumaran V, Watanabe K (2009) LDL cholesterol is more strongly associated with metabolic syndrome in Japanese women than in men. Intern Med 48:1607–1614

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Laurat E, Poirier B, Tupin E, Caligiuri G, Hansson GK, Bariéty J, Nicoletti A (2001) In vivo downregulation of T helper cell 1 immune responses reduces atherogenesis in apolipoprotein E-knockout mice. Circulation 104:197–202

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Caligiuri G, Groyer E, Khallou-Laschet J, Al Haj Zen A, Sainz J, Urbain D, Gaston AT, Lemitre M, Nicoletti A, Lafont A (2005) Reduced immunoregulatory CD31+ T cells in the blood of atherosclerotic mice with plaque thrombosis. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 25:1659–1664

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Davenport P, Tipping PG (2003) The role of interleukin-4 and interleukin-12 in the progression of atherosclerosis in apolipoprotein E-deficient mice. Am J Pathol 163:1117–1125

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors thank all subjects who participated in the study, the paramedical staff at our center who assisted with the study, and Dr. Shinpei Yoshii and Dr. Masaaki Okabe at Tachikawa Medical Center for their assistance to construct the study environment.

Conflict of interest

The authors received no grant or financial support and have no conflict of interest to disclose.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Medical Check-up Center, Tachikawa Medical Center, Nagachou 2-2-16, Nagaoka, Niigata, 940-0053, Japan

    Eiji Oda & Ryu Kawai

  2. Tachikawa General Hospital, Tachikawa Medical Center, Nagaoka, Japan

    Yoshifusa Aizawa

Authors
  1. Eiji Oda
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ryu Kawai
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Yoshifusa Aizawa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Eiji Oda.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Oda, E., Kawai, R. & Aizawa, Y. Lymphocyte count was significantly associated with hyper-LDL cholesterolemia independently of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein in apparently healthy Japanese. Heart Vessels 27, 377–383 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00380-011-0157-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00380-011-0157-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation