Background

Previous studies have demonstrated that elevated cholesterol results in increased white blood cell counts in mouse models. However, there is insufficient evidence to support this in humans.

Objective

The objective of the study was to investigate the relationship of plasma lipids with white blood cell counts (basophils, eosinophils, monocytes, neutrophils and lymphocytes) in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.

Methods

The analysis included 2873 Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis participants with a complete white blood count and differential analysis. The cross-sectional association of total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglyceride levels with different white blood cell counts was analyzed by multivariable linear regression.

Results

After adjusting for sociodemographic and confounding factors including red blood cell counts, platelet counts, use of lipid-lowering medication, cardiovascular disease risk factors and other lipid measures, and multiple testing correction, a one–standard deviation increment in total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol was associated with 2.8% and 2.3% lower total white blood cell counts, 3.7% and 3.0% lower monocyte counts, and 3.4% and 2.7% lower neutrophil counts (all P < .01). The same increment in logarithm-transformed triglyceride levels was associated with 2.3% higher total white blood cell counts and 4.5% higher lymphocyte counts (both P < .001). Similar results were obtained after excluding participants taking lipid-lowering medication. A one–standard deviation increase in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol was associated with a 1.5% lower white blood cell count (P = .018) but was not significantly associated with changes in any individual cell type.

Conclusion

While significant associations were observed between plasma lipid levels and white blood cell populations, the heterogeneous and modest nature of these relationships makes it hard to support the hypothesis that lipids are in the causal pathway for leukogenesis in humans.

中文翻译：

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血浆脂质与白细胞计数的关联：动脉粥样硬化多民族研究的结果。

背景

先前的研究表明，胆固醇升高会导致小鼠模型中的白细胞计数增加。然而，没有足够的证据支持人类。

客观的

该研究的目的是在多族裔动脉粥样硬化研究中研究血浆脂质与白细胞计数（嗜碱性粒细胞，嗜酸性粒细胞，单核细胞，嗜中性粒细胞和淋巴细胞）的关系。

方法

该分析包括2873多种族动脉粥样硬化参与者的全白细胞计数和差异分析研究。通过多变量线性回归分析总胆固醇，低密度脂蛋白胆固醇，高密度脂蛋白胆固醇和甘油三酸酯水平与不同白细胞计数的横断面关联。

结果

在调整了社会人口统计学和混杂因素后，包括红细胞计数，血小板计数，使用降脂药物，心血管疾病危险因素和其他脂质测量方法，以及多次测试校正，总胆固醇和低密度的单标准偏差增加脂蛋白胆固醇与总白细胞计数降低2.8％和2.3％，单核细胞计数降低3.7％和3.0％，中性粒细胞计数降低3.4％和2.7％（所有P  <.01）。对数转换的甘油三酸酯水平的相同增加与总白细胞计数高2.3％和淋巴细胞计数高4.5％相关（两者均为P <.001）。排除参加降脂药物的参与者后，获得了类似的结果。高密度脂蛋白胆固醇的单标准偏差增加与白细胞计数降低1.5％（P  = .018）相关，但与任何单个细胞类型的变化均无显着相关。

结论

尽管在血浆脂质水平和白细胞群体之间观察到显着的关联，但是这些关系的异质性和适度性质使得难以支持脂质在人类白细胞形成的成因途径中的假设。