Editing High-density lipoprotein (section)

==== Optimal total and large HDL concentrations ====
The HDL particle concentrations are typically categorized by event rate percentiles based on the people participating and being tracked in the MESA<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.mesa-nhlbi.org/ |title=mesa-nhlbi.org |access-date=2016-12-07 |archive-date=2016-12-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161215100947/https://www.mesa-nhlbi.org/ |url-status=live }}</ref> trial, a medical research study sponsored by the United States National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Total HDL particle Table
! MESA Percentile
! Total HDL particles [[mole (unit)|μmol]]/L
! Interpretation
|-
| >75%
| >34.9
| Those with highest (Optimal) total HDL particle concentrations & lowest rates of cardiovascular disease events
|-
| 50–75%
| 30.5–34.5
| Those with moderately high total HDL particle concentrations & moderate rates of cardiovascular disease events
|-
| 25–50%
| 26.7–30.5
| Those with lower total HDL particle concentrations & Borderline-High rates of cardiovascular disease
|-
| 0–25%
| <26.7
| Those with lowest total HDL particle concentrations & Highest rates of cardiovascular disease events
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Large (protective) HDL particle Table
! MESA Percentile
! Large HDL particles [[mole (unit)|μmol]]/L
! Interpretation
|-
| >75%
| >7.3
| Those with highest (Optimal) Large HDL particle concentrations & lowest rates of cardiovascular disease events
|-
| 50–75%
| 4.8–7.3
| Those with moderately high Large HDL particle concentrations & moderate rates of cardiovascular disease events
|-
| 25–50%
| 3.1–4.8
| Those with lower Large HDL particle concentrations & Borderline-High rates of cardiovascular disease
|-
| 0–25%
| <3.1
| Those with lowest Large HDL particle concentrations & Highest rates of cardiovascular disease events
|}

The lowest incidence of atherosclerotic events over time occurs within those with both the highest concentrations of total HDL particles (the top quarter, >75%) and the highest concentrations of large HDL particles. Multiple additional measures, including LDL particle concentrations, small LDL particle concentrations, VLDL concentrations, estimations of [[insulin resistance]] and standard cholesterol lipid measurements (for comparison of the plasma data with the estimation methods discussed above) are routinely provided in clinical testing.