LDL particle number optimal range and reference range

Compiled by Alina Radu, founder of Sera, from the published sources below · Last reviewed November 9, 2026

Sera's bands for LDL particle number:

  • Optimal 0 – 1,000 nmol/L; sufficient 1,000 – 1,600 nmol/L; out of range above 1,600 nmol/L.

Evidence grade: Published reference interval. A band that primarily reflects a published adult laboratory or population reference interval. It is not necessarily applicable to every assay or laboratory.

All units

UnitOptimalSufficientOut of range
nmol/L0 – 1,0001,000 – 1,600above 1,600

Bounded on the high side only — a low result is not treated as out of range. Risk rises with particle number; a low count is the favourable direction.

What the evidence says

Discordance is the reason to measure it: where LDL-P is high and LDL cholesterol is not — the usual pattern in insulin resistance, with small dense particles — the standard panel understates risk. ApoB answers much the same question and is more widely available. NMR and ion-mobility methods do not give interchangeable numbers.

Assay: Results differ meaningfully between platforms and methods. Compare against the interval printed by the issuing laboratory before acting on a borderline value.

Sources

  • LDL-P (NMR LipoProfile) — reference range — Labcorp, 2026 · Laboratory / reference-interval sourceThe laboratory's tiers for NMR-measured LDL particle number: low below 1000 nmol/L, moderate 1000 to 1299, borderline high 1300 to 1599, high 1600 to 2000, very high above 2000. Sera's optimal band ends where low ends, and its acceptable band where high begins.

What LDL Particle Number (LDL-P) measures

The number of LDL particles in circulation, measured by NMR, rather than the amount of cholesterol they carry.

Risk tracks the number of particles crossing the arterial wall, not the cholesterol inside them. When LDL-P is high while LDL-C looks acceptable — common in insulin resistance, where particles are small and numerous — the standard panel understates risk. ApoB measures much the same thing and is the more widely available of the two.

Related heart health markers

See LDL particle number in the full list of biomarker ranges

About the author

Alina Radu is the founder of Sera and a software engineer. The idea started with her own Hashimoto's tests, scattered across years without the big picture. She is not a clinician: these ranges are compiled from the published sources linked on each page, with every source named. Alina Radu on LinkedIn

This page is a reference for practitioners, not medical advice. Sera's bands are practitioner targets for structured review, not diagnostic thresholds, and Sera does not diagnose or recommend treatment. Read a result alongside the interval printed by the issuing laboratory and the client's history and symptoms. Range set: Sera Production, version 1.0, last reviewed November 9, 2026.