Abstract: AIM To investigate the correlation between high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) level and coronary heart disease (CHD) in Chinese Han population. METHODS In the study, 723 consecutive subjects, who were admitted into the Department of Cardiology, First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University from August 2008 to August 2009, were recruited. Plasma total cholesterol, triglycerides (TG), HDL-C, LDL-C, apoA-I and apoB concentrations were measured enzymatically. The logistic model was used to evaluate the associations between CHD and lipid variables. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to determine the area under the curve (AUC) for lipid parameters. RESULTS The CHD patients had higher levels of TG, TG/HDL-C, total cholesterol/HDL-C, LDL-C/HDL-C, and apoB/apoA-I, but lower levels of HDL-C and apoA-I compared with those in controls. The concentrations of total cholesterol, LDL-C and ApoB were similar between the two groups. With adjustment for age, gender, smoking history, hypertension history and diabetes history, it was found that TG, HDL-C, LDL-C, TG/HDL-C, total cholesterol/HDL-C, LDL-C/HDL-C and apoB/apoA-I entered the regression model with regression coefficients of 0.23, -1.91, 0.27, 0.27, 0.26, 0.67 and 1.60, respectively. The regression coefficient of HDL was -1.91 and was the most highly associated among the lipid parameters studied. The ROC method showed that the AUC of HDL-C was 0.717 (P<0.01), indicating that the AUC of low HDL-C was 0.717 (P<0.01), which was higher than the AUC values of other lipid parameters. CONCLUSION Low HDL-C is associated with the risk CHD in Chinese Han population.