Do my ApoB and LDL agree?
Most of the time the two numbers tell the same story. When they split, the ApoB is the one to trust. Find your corner.
Showing an example: ApoB 112 with LDL 95. Type your own.
Total, HDL and triglycerides from the same report
Your LDL looks fine, but you're carrying more particles than it suggests, each with less cholesterol inside. Risk follows the count. In Copenhagen, statin users with this pattern had about 1.5 times the heart attacks of people with both numbers low.
- LDL 95
- 30thpercentile, under 100
- ApoB 112
- 79thpercentile, at or over 90
- Apart
- 49percentile points, ApoB higher
Compared with LDL under 100 and ApoB under 90, the borderline pair. From the NLA's 2024 table, which matches ApoB to the same LDL goals the 2026 guideline uses.
The same cholesterol, shared out
At an LDL of 130, ApoB in 95 of 100 people ran from 86 to 109.
What your corner means
- Both fine: the two agree and both are at your goal. Test again with your next panel.
- Both high: the two agree that you're over. Track the ApoB as you bring them down, since it counts the particles.
- Hidden count: your LDL looks fine but you carry more particles than it suggests. Go by the ApoB. It's most common with high triglycerides, diabetes, extra weight or a statin (why is my ApoB high if my LDL is normal?).
- Cholesterol-rich: fewer particles, each carrying more. In statin users this pattern wasn't tied to more heart attacks. At an LDL of 190 or more, see a doctor anyway.
Run the check once
- Use both numbers from the same report, taken on the same day.
- Look for the words "LDL calculated". If they're there, add your total, HDL and triglycerides, and the tool works LDL out again with a newer formula.
- Check your triglycerides. At 150 or more the 2026 guideline prefers non-HDL or ApoB to LDL.
How it works
Two checks, both from published tables. First, each number against its own goal in the National Lipid Association's pairs: LDL under 55 with ApoB under 60, LDL under 70 with ApoB under 70, and LDL under 100 with ApoB under 90. That gives the corner. Second, both numbers against each other by percentile, on the NLA's table of 12,696 untreated US adults, where both columns come from the same people.
The two split most with high triglycerides, diabetes, extra weight or a statin. Part of the split is the old LDL formula many labs still print. If your report says LDL calculated and you add your total, HDL and triglycerides, the tool works LDL out again with the NIH equation and places that dot too.
5 sources
- Soffer DE, Marston NA, Maki KC and others, Role of apolipoprotein B in the clinical management of cardiovascular risk in adults: an Expert Clinical Consensus from the National Lipid Association, Journal of Clinical Lipidology, 2024pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Blumenthal RS, Morris PB, Gaudino M and others, 2026 ACC/AHA guideline on the management of dyslipidemia, JACC, 2026doi.org
- Johannesen CDL and others, ApoB, non-HDL and LDL in 13,015 statin users in Copenhagen, JACC, 2021pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Sniderman AD and others, ApoB at the same LDL in 293,876 UK Biobank adults, European Heart Journal, 2024pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Sampson M and others, A new equation for calculation of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in patients with normolipidemia and/or hypertriglyceridemia, JAMA Cardiology, 2020doi.org
