Cholesterol levels in small LDL particles predict the risk of coronary heart disease in the EPIC-Norfolk prospective population study

AIMS: To evaluate the association of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels in small and large LDL particles with risk of incident coronary heart disease (CHD). METHODS AND RESULTS: We performed a prospective case-control study nested in the EPIC-Norfolk cohort. Cases were apparently healthy men and women aged 45-79 years who developed fatal or non-fatal CHD (n = 1035), and who were matched by age, gender, and enrollment time to 1920 controls who remained free of CHD. Electrophoretic characteristics of LDL particles were measured using 2-16% polyacrylamide gradient gel electrophoresis. Concentrations of LDL-C(