Relationships between serum total bilirubin levels and hypercholesterolemia in Chinese men and women.

Objective Bilirubin, an antioxidant, is reported to relate with metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular diseases. The current study is to assess the relationship between total bilirubin (TB) and hypercholesterolemia in the Chinese population. Methods This cross-sectional study involved 48971 males and 31327 females who were in good health. Physical examinations and laboratory tests including TB and total cholesterol (TC) were performed. Subjects were divided into the following groups according to age: subjects younger than 30 years, subjects aged between 30 to 60 years and subjects older than 60 years. Binary logistic regression models examining factors independently related to TB was performed for males and females in different age groups. Results TB was negatively related to most parameters in males and females, such as body mass index (BMI), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), TC, triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and glucose (G). The incidence of high TC was higher in females than in males and decreased with the increasing of TB in both genders. People older than 30 years demonstrated a similar trend. When there were no other covariates, TB appeared to be an important risk factor for high TC for men and women. However, this relationship disappeared when other covariates were added in the binary logistic regression models. Similar results also existed in men younger than 60 years and women younger than 30 years. Conclusions Our findings implied that serum TB concentration was not an independent risk predictor for hypercholesterolemia. TB was thought to be a covariate factor in the development of dyslipidemia.