RESUMO
Coronary heart disease [CHD] is a condition of diverse etiologies, out of which hypercholesterolemia is a major established risk factor. Cholesterol is transported mainly in association with the low density lipoprotein [LDL] and high density lipoprotein [HDL]. Increased LDL cholesterol and decreased HDL cholesterol are related to the development of CHD. The predictive value of the cholesterol in the plasma for persons at high risk of CHD becomes more discriminative when LDL and HDL are fractionend into its subclasses. The data reviewed suggests that increased LDL cholesterol concentration can be ascribed more to the major subfraction LDL2 and reduced levels of cholesterol in HDL2 subfraction which have a closer association with established CHD than does total HDL- cholesterol