Comparison of the Japan Society of Clinical Chemistry reference method and CDC method for HDL and LDL cholesterol measurements using fresh sera

Objectives: In 2009, the Japan Society of Clinical Chemistry (JSCC) recommended a reference method for the measurement of serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels. This automated method uses cholesterol esterase-cholesterol dehydrogenase to measure cholesterol levels in fractions obtained after ultracentrifugation and dextran sulfate/magnesium chloride precipitation. In the present study, using fresh samples, we compared the LDL-C and HDL-C levels measured using this method with those measured using the traditional Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-beta-quantification (BQ) method. Design: and methods: Using both the JSCC and CDC-BQ methods, LDL-C/HDL-C levels were measured in 47 non-diseased and 126 diseased subjects, whose triglyceride levels were lower than 11.29 ​mmol/L (1000 ​mg/dL). Results: For LDL-C, the equation of the line representing the correlation between the two methods was y ​= ​0.991x + 0.009 ​mmol/L; r ​= ​0.999; and Sy/x ​= ​0.025 ​mmol/L, where x is the mean LDL-C level measured using the CDC-BQ method. Similarly, for HDL-C, the equation of the line representing the correlation between the two methods was y ​= ​0.988x + 0.041 ​mmol/L, r ​= ​0.999, and Sy/x ​= ​0.019 ​mmol/L, where x is the mean HDL-C level measured using the CDC-BQ method. Conclusions: The JSCC method agreed with the CDC-BQ method in cases of both non-diseased and diseased subjects, including those with dyslipidemia.