The next question was whether cholesterol efflux capacity in an individual is a stable trait of that individual over time. The placebo group in a recent trial had blood drawn 8 weeks apart, under similar fasting conditions, and we used these paired samples to assess this question. The left panel of the Figure shows the correlation of the HDL cholesterol measurements at these 2 time points in the same individual, and as might be expected, they were well correlated, with an R value of 0.77.
In the right-hand panel of the Figure we used our cholesterol efflux capacity method to ask the same question about serum drawn at 2 time points in the same individuals, and once again there was significant correlation, with an R value of 0.7.
These results gave us confidence that, in fact, efflux capacity is a stable trait in an individual over time, or at least (in this case) over this 8-week period.
J Clin Lipidol. 2011; 5(6).