It is well established that atherogenic dyslipidaemia is associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and a high risk of CVD in T2DM patients.5, 6 Moreover, the mortality rate of CVD in diabetic patients varies with gender.7 Previous studies have demonstrated that the ApoB/ApoA-I ratio may be a strong marker of metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance in certain population,8–10 but the associations of it with T2DM and pre-diabetes as well as its gender effects in the Chinese population are still poorly clarified. Here, APOA1 is linked to type 2 diabetes mellitus.