IJCS | Volume 31, Nº4, July / August 2018

371 Figure 1 - Assessment of the lipid profile of adolescents for the serum levels of total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) and triglycerides (TG). F: female; M: male. A) TC; difference between F (IQR = 44) and M (IQR = 36.25), p: 0.043* (Mann-Whitney U test); B) TG; difference between F (IQR = 37.5) and M (IQR = 42), p: 0.017* (Mann-Whitney U test); C) LDL; difference between F (IQR = 31.75) and M (IQR = 29.5), p: 0.049* (Mann-Whitney U test); D) TC; difference between F (IQR = 43.5) and M (IQR = 32), p: 0.026* (Mann-Whitney U test). Cunha et al. Lipid profile in adolescents Int J Cardiovasc Sci. 2018;31(4)367-373 Original Article study by Ramos et al. 25 conducted in the municipality of CampinaGrande, Paraíba state, which reported changes in HDL-c levels in 80.6%of the sample. Some different results have also been reported. Silva et al. 14 have reported 22%of changed HDL-c values in a study conducted in the city of Rio de Janeiro, while Seki et al., 28 in a study conducted in Londrina, Paraná state, have reported 14.3% of changed HDL-c values. Such differences reported in the literature might be related to genetic, environmental and local factors, because the studies are from distinct geographic, ethnical and cultural regions. It is worth noting that this study has limitations, because it is a retrospective study with convenience sampling of a specific population, whose samples had already been collected. Conclusion This study’s results showed that, of the 600 adolescents, 30% had some type of hypercholesterolemia and more than 50% had some type of dyslipidemia. Regarding the adolescents with dyslipidemia, the female sex had the highest prevalence, suggesting that preventive measures should be taken considering sex. In conclusion, the serum level of non-HDL-c showed stronger correlation with the other lipids (TG, LDL-c and TC) as compared to LDL-c. This suggests that non-HDL-c can be used as an effective complementary diagnostic method to assess the risks for atherosclerosis in adolescents of this study’s age group. Non-HDL-c can be an important biomarker, and should be included in the lipid profile, as already used for adults. Author contributions Conception and design of the research: Cunha EDBB, Fagundes RP; Acquisition of data: Fagundes RP; Analysis and interpretation of the data: Cunha EDBB; Statistical analysis: Cunha EDBB, Scalabrin EE; Writing of the manuscript: Cunha EDBB; Critical revision of the manuscript for intellectual content: Herai RH.