Plasma Lipid and Lipoprotein Levels in Childhood and Adolescence

Abstract

A study of the plasma lipid and lipoprotein concentration in 153 persons, aged 6 to 20 years, has been carried out. The study was performed as a continuation of a previous study in adults. Though a common tendency for higher plasma lipid and lipoprotein concentrations among females than among males was observed, sex and age differences were generally indistinct. The only marked sex difference was found in the age group from 16 to 20 years, in which the plasma concentration of phospholipids was significantly lower in males than in females. On the basis of our findings, reference values for plasma lipid and lipoprotein concentrations in children aged 6–15 years are presented. The transition from the infantile to the characteristic age- and sex-dependent adult pattern for plasma lipids and lipoproteins seems in males to occur between the ages of 16 and 20 years – for triglycerides and pre-β-lipoproteins maybe even earlier – whereas in females it occurs after the age of 20. The only lipoprotein abnormality that was found, was the presence of a double pre-β-band, which was seen in all age groups with a common frequency of approximately 5 per cent.