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The following is a summary of “High-density lipoprotein cholesterol and nasal colonization of Staphylococcus aureus: results from the 2001–2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES),” published in the November 2024 issue of Infectious Disease by Wen et al. 

The negative link between high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and infectious diseases and its relationship with nasal colonization by Staphylococcus aureus remained unclear.  

Researchers conducted a retrospective study investigating the linkage between HDL-C levels and Staphylococcus aureus nasal colonization.  

They included 7,731 participants from the 2001–2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) cycle with complete data. After adjusting for demographics and lifestyle factors, multivariate logistic regression was used to analyze the relationship between HDL-C and nasal colonization of Staphylococcus aureus. Additionally, restricted cubic splines (RCS) were used to explore the nonlinear relationship between HDL-C and nasal colonization of Staphylococcus aureus and adjusted all analyses accounted for relevant covariates.  

The results showed that the mean HDL-C level was 1.38 ± 0.64 mmol/L, and the nasal colonization rate of Staphylococcus aureus was 26.2%. The unadjusted model (OR = 0.71; 95%CI: 0.62–0.80; P < 0.001) and the preliminary adjusted model (model 1: OR = 0.77; 95%CI: 0.67–0.89; P < 0.001) demonstrated a negative association between HDL-C and Staphylococcus aureus nasal colonization. After adjusting for all variables in model 3, the relationship between HDL-C and Staphylococcus aureus nasal colonization remained significant and negative (OR = 0.79; 95%CI: 0.69–0.92; P = 0.002). Furthermore, RCS analysis showed a negative correlation between HDL-C and Staphylococcus aureus nasal colonization (P for nonlinear = 0.034). The subgroup analysis indicated that only gender significantly impacted this relationship (P for interaction = 0.013). In males, for each unit increase in HDL-C, the risk of Staphylococcus aureus nasal colonization decreased by 38% (OR = 0.62, 95%CI: 0.49–0.79); however, this relationship was no longer significant in females with fewer interactions in the other subgroup analyses (P for interaction > 0.05).  

They concluded the higher HDL-C levels in males, were linked with a decreased risk of Staphylococcus aureus nasal colonization, even after adjusting for multiple factors. 

Source: bmcinfectdis.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12879-024-10125-5