Assessment of small, dense LDL particles among subjects consuming coconut oil or sunflower oil as cooking medium by using LDL-cholesterol/LDL-apo B ratio as a surrogate marker

Background : Coconut oil is the major cooking oil used by the people of Kerala. On account of its hypercholesterolemic effects, people are shifting to sunflower oil as an alternate cooking medium. The effect of dietary fats on small, dense low-density lipoprotein (LDL) particles, a newly recognized cardiovascular risk factor, has not been thoroughly investigated in this population. Materials and Methods : We compared the effect of these two cooking oils on apolipoprotein B (apo B) and LDL-cholesterol/LDL-apo B ratio, which is a surrogate for small, dense LDL particles, among 62 control subjects and 64 subjects with type 2 diabetes. The subjects were divided into two subgroups based on the type of cooking medium used (coconut oil/sunflower oil). Total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL-cholesterol, high density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol and apo B were estimated, and the LDL-cholesterol/LDL-apo B ratio was calculated from these estimations. Results : Triglycerides, LDL-cholesterol, and apo B concentrations were significantly higher among diabetic subjects compared to the control groups. A predominance of small, dense LDL particles indicated by low LDL-cholesterol/LDL-apo B ratio was observed among subjects of both control and diabetic groups. These parameters were not significantly different between subjects with the same clinical condition, but using different cooking media. Conclusions : Small, dense LDL particles could be a major risk factor in this population, given its high prevalence in the study population. As the parameters studied did not differ significantly between the subgroups, it may be concluded that a change in the type of cooking medium has not considerably affected these parameters.