{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,8]],"date-time":"2026-10-08T03:19:01Z","timestamp":1791429541381,"version":"4.3.3"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,5,11]],"date-time":"2020-05-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1589155200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: atherosclerotic process inexorably advances in patients reaching low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) targets. An attractive hypothesis is that lipoprotein particles (very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL), intermediate-density lipoprotein (IDL)), could contribute to residual risk. The present study aims to investigate the relationship between carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) and different lipoprotein subfractions in a cohort of healthy postmenopausal women. Methods: 75 postmenopausal women, at LDL-C target levels without overt cardiovascular disease, underwent biochemical analyses (including subfraction assay of plasma lipoproteins) and carotid ultrasound examination. Results: a statistically significant correlation between VLDL and carotid IMT (p &lt; 0.001) was found. No significant correlation was found between carotid IMT and LDL-C (p = 0.179), IDL-C (p = 0.815), high-density lipoprotein (HDL) (p = 0.855), and LDL score (p = 0.240). Moreover, IMT is significantly correlated to LDL particle diameter (p = 0.044). After adjusting for age, systolic blood pressure, body mass index, smoking habits, glucose plasma concentration, and Lipoprotein(a) (Lpa) levels, multivariate analysis showed that women in the third tertile of VLDL-C, compared with those in the first tertile, were significantly associated to the highest IMT (p = 0.04). Conclusions: in this cohort of postmenopausal women, VLDL-C was significantly associated to carotid IMT, independent of main cardiovascular risk factors. These findings pave the way for targeting circulating concentrations of VLDL-C to reduce cardiovascular events in patients with target LDL-C levels.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm9051422","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,5,11]],"date-time":"2020-05-11T12:26:30Z","timestamp":1589199990000},"page":"1422","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":19,"title":["Association between Very Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol (VLDL-C) and Carotid Intima-Media Thickness in Postmenopausal Women Without Overt Cardiovascular Disease and on LDL-C Target Levels"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"9","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3744-6375","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marco","family":"Gentile","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, \u201cFederico II\u201d University, 80131 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Arcangelo","family":"Iannuzzi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine and Medical Specialties, \u201cAntonio Cardarelli\u201d Hospital, 80131 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4119-9397","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Francesco","family":"Giallauria","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"\u201cFederico II\u201d University of Naples, Department of Translational Medical Sciences, 80131 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9698-9145","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Antonello","family":"D\u2019Andrea","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Cardiology and Intensive Care Units, \u201cUmberto I\u201d Hospital, Viale San Francesco, 84014 Nocera Inferiore (Salerno), Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Elio","family":"Venturini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Cardiac Rehabilitation Unit, Azienda USL Toscana Nord-Ovest, Cecina Civil Hospital, 57023 Cecina (LI), Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mario","family":"Pacileo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Cardiology and Intensive Care Units, \u201cUmberto I\u201d Hospital, Viale San Francesco, 84014 Nocera Inferiore (Salerno), Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Giuseppe","family":"Covetti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine and Medical Specialties, \u201cAntonio Cardarelli\u201d Hospital, 80131 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Camilla","family":"Panico","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, \u201cFederico II\u201d University, 80131 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Amalia","family":"Mattiello","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, \u201cFederico II\u201d University, 80131 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1565-6550","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Giuseppe","family":"Vitale","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Cardiovascular Rehabilitation Unit, \u201cBuccheri La Ferla Fatebenefratelli\u201d Hospital, 90123 Palermo, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2046-8316","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Filippo Maria","family":"Sarullo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Cardiovascular Rehabilitation Unit, \u201cBuccheri La Ferla Fatebenefratelli\u201d Hospital, 90123 Palermo, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Paolo","family":"Rubba","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, \u201cFederico II\u201d University, 80131 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Carlo","family":"Vigorito","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"\u201cFederico II\u201d University of Naples, Department of Translational Medical Sciences, 80131 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Salvatore","family":"Panico","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, \u201cFederico II\u201d University, 80131 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gabriella","family":"Iannuzzo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, \u201cFederico II\u201d University, 80131 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,5,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ambrosetti, M., Abreu, A., Corr\u00e0, U., Davos, C.H., Hansen, D., Frederix, I., Iliou, M.C., Pedretti, R.F., Schmid, J.P., and Vigorito, C. 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