DYSLIPIDAEMIAS IN WHITE AND BLACK TREATED ESSENTIAL HYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS

Serum lipid profiles were evaluated in 143 white (31 men, 112 women, aged 58.4+/-0.9 years) and in 75 black individuals (16 men, 59 women, aged 52.6+/-1.0 years) with treated essential hypertension. Hypertension onset was earlier in the blacks than the whites (39.7+/-1.0 vs. 46.6+/-1.1 years). Duration of hypertension was similar in both races (11.8+/-1.0 and 12.9+/-1.0 years) and did not correlate with serum lipid values. Mean serum lipids, excluding HDL-C, were significantly higher in white than in black hypertensives (LDL-C 4.19+/-0.08 vs. 3.82+/-0.13; TG 1.80+/-0.10 vs. 1.40+/-0.09 mmol/l; LDL-C/HDL-C 4.0+/-0.1 vs. 3.6+/-0.2). The prevalence of dyslipidaemia was significantly higher in white than in black patients (64% vs. 52%). Types IIa, IIb and IV were more prevalent in whites and isolated low HDL-C in blacks. Obesity was found in 27% of the whites and 31% of the blacks. Hypertriglyceridaemia was more frequent in obese hypertensives of both races, but mostly among the white obese patients. Among lipid values within the normal range, the mean levels of serum lipids were similar in both races, with the exception of triglyceridaemia, which was significantly lower in black than in white hypertensives. These findings may be attributed to racial differences rather than to nutritional trends.