The relationship between cholesterol and coronary heart disease (CHD) is attenuated at older age. We analyzed cholesterol level as a predictor of CHD in 8,947 participants from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study, a large multicenter cohort study that enrolled participants in 1987-1989 at 4 field centers in Washington County, Maryland; Forsyth County, North Carolina; Jackson, Mississippi; and Minneapolis, Minnesota. Participants in the present analysis had no history of CHD and were stratified by age (<65 or ≥65 years) and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) level (<2 or ≥2 mg/L). Visit 4 (1996-1997) was the baseline for this analysis, with follow-up through 2008. Cholesterol level was significantly associated with CHD among younger participants, and cholesterol level was similarly predictive of CHD among older participants with an hs-CRP level of <2 mg/L. In contrast, among older participants with an hs-CRP level of 2 mg/L or higher, the association of CHD with total cholesterol level was borderline significant (hazard ratio = 1.14, 95% confidence interval: 1.00, 1.29), and the association of CHD with low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level was nonsignificant (hazard ratio = 1.10; 95% confidence interval: 0.96, 1.26). Among older persons with an elevated hs-CRP level, cholesterol level was significantly less predictive of CHD (P < 0.05), whereas for those with an hs-CRP level of <2 mg/L, there was no significant difference compared with younger participants. In conclusion, we found that among the young-old, the association of cholesterol level with CHD was strong when hs-CRP level was not elevated and weak when hs-CRP level was elevated. Therefore, hs-CRP level could be useful for stratifying the young-old to assess the strength of cholesterol level in CHD risk prediction.
Keywords: C-reactive protein; elderly persons; serum cholesterol.