Prolonged hyperlipidemia exposure increases the risk of arteriosclerosis in young adults: a cross-sectional study in a cohort of Chinese

Abstract Background Hyperlipidemia is associated with arteriosclerosis. Herein, We examined the effect of prolonged exposure to hyperlipidemia on the risk of arteriosclerosis in young adults.Methods A study cohort (35−55 years old) that received health check-ups in the Kailuan study (2014−2016) were assessed. Hyperlipidemia was defined as a low-density lipoprotein cholesterol ≥160 mg/dL according to the Chinese Guidelines for the Management of Dyslipidemia in Adults. Subjects were divided into three groups based on the number of years with hyperlipidemia: normal (0 years), low exposure (1−5 years), and high exposure (5−10 years) groups. Arteriosclerosis was assessed with brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity. For all subjects and subjects that did not meet statin treatment criteria under guidelines, logistics regression was used to analyze the effect of prolonged hyperlipidemia exposure on arteriosclerosis in different age groups.Results Among 12,431 subjects, the mean age was 46.42±5.34 years with 9,000 men (72.4%). Brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity gradually increased with increased exposure duration. Logistic regression analysis showed that hyperlipidemia exposure was a risk factor for arteriosclerosis in the low (1.22 times) and high (1.49 times) exposure groups compared with the normal group. In the different age groups, the risk of arteriosclerosis increased with the duration of hyperlipidemia exposure, apart for the 35−40-year-old population. The effect of hyperlipidemia exposure duration on arteriosclerosis in young adults that did not meet statin treatment criteria under guidelines was similar to the general population.Conclusions Prolonged exposure to hyperlipidemia in young adults increases the risk of arteriosclerosis. Young adults with this condition may benefit from more aggressive primary prevention.