GLOSSARY

Non-HDL Cholesterol summarises cholesterol outside HDL and can be calculated by subtraction from the panel; it is not a separate particle class.

Non-HDL cholesterol is total cholesterol minus HDL-C, covering cholesterol carried outside HDL. An educational example is 180 minus 50 equals 130 milligrams per decilitre. This calculation does not count particles or establish an individual treatment target. Both inputs must use the same units and come from compatible laboratory reporting.

A lipoprotein is a carrier particle, while cholesterol or triglyceride is part of its cargo. Cholesterol content within a particle class does not reveal every particle's number or size. LDL therefore differs from LDL-C. Laboratory comparisons require knowing which substance's mass or which particle concentration a reported value actually describes.

Each ApoB-containing particle has one structural ApoB molecule: intestinal ApoB-48 or hepatic ApoB-100. This helps describe particle burden, whereas LDL-C describes cholesterol cargo. Clinical ApoB is a proxy for atherogenic particle number, not a measurement of total dietary protein or of the cholesterol mass carried by those particles.

A routine lipid panel or profile commonly reports total cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL-C and LDL-C; the two names can describe similar test sets. ApoB, Lp(a) and fatty-acid measurements are not automatically included in every panel. Check the actual components and whether each result was measured or calculated before drawing conclusions from the test's title.

Remnant cholesterol concerns cholesterol in triglyceride-rich particles and their remnants, with an operational definition that depends on the method. It is sometimes estimated as total cholesterol minus LDL-C and HDL-C. The result is neither triglyceride mass nor remnant count, and LDL-C estimation error can affect it; dedicated measurements need not give identical values.

Blood-lipid interpretation depends on family history, age, blood pressure, other conditions and the testing method. One value does not describe all risk, and laboratory reference intervals are not necessarily individual treatment targets. These definitions teach marker names and units; a general example cannot validly determine medication changes or a personal treatment plan.