Home › Medical & Clinical › Cholesterol Unit Converter

Cholesterol Unit Converter

Converts total, HDL, LDL or non-HDL cholesterol (factor 0.02586) and triglycerides (factor 0.01129) between mg/dL and mmol/L.

When to use

A lipid result or target is reported in the other unit system.

Do not use when: You need to calculate LDL from a lipid panel (use ldl-cholesterol) or convert glucose (use glucose-unit-conversion), which use different factors.

Formula

cholesterol: mmol_l = mg_dl × 0.02586 (molar mass 386.65 g/mol); triglycerides: mmol_l = mg_dl × 0.01129 (average molar mass ≈ 885 g/mol); reverse: mg_dl = mmol_l / factor

The triglyceride factor depends on an assumed average molecular weight, so laboratories may differ by about 1%. Results are informational only and not a substitute for clinical judgement or medical advice.

Inputs

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`value`	number	yes	The lipid value to convert. Range: > 0, ≤ 10000
`from_unit`	enum: mg_dl \| mmol_l	yes	Unit of the entered value.
`analyte`	enum: total_cholesterol \| hdl \| ldl \| non_hdl \| triglycerides	default total_cholesterol	Cholesterol fractions share one factor; triglycerides use another.

Outputs

Output	Type	Unit	Description
`mg_dl`	number	mg/dL	Value in mg/dL.
`mmol_l`	number	mmol/L	Value in mmol/L.
`factor`	number		0.02586 for cholesterol, 0.01129 for triglycerides.
`analyte`	string		Analyte converted.

Example

Total cholesterol 200 mg/dL: {"value":200,"from_unit":"mg_dl","analyte":"total_cholesterol"} → {"mmol_l":5.17,"factor":0.02586}

Triglycerides 150 mg/dL: {"value":150,"from_unit":"mg_dl","analyte":"triglycerides"} → {"mmol_l":1.69,"factor":0.01129}

LDL 3.0 mmol/L: {"value":3,"from_unit":"mmol_l","analyte":"ldl"} → {"mg_dl":116}

GET https://tttkmbb.com/api/v1/calculate/cholesterol-unit-conversion?value=200&from_unit=mg_dl&analyte=total_cholesterol

Machine access

API: GET https://tttkmbb.com/api/v1/calculate/cholesterol-unit-conversion (query parameters) or POST with a JSON body {"inputs": {...}}
Schema: https://tttkmbb.com/api/v1/calculators/cholesterol-unit-conversion · Markdown: https://tttkmbb.com/medical/cholesterol-unit-conversion.md · JSON definition: https://tttkmbb.com/medical/cholesterol-unit-conversion.json
MCP: server https://tttkmbb.com/mcp, tool run_calculator with calculator_id="cholesterol-unit-conversion"
OpenAPI operationId: convert_cholesterol_units
Freshness: static. Authentication: none. Rate limit: fair use (see rate limits).

Sources

American Heart Association – What your cholesterol levels mean (reference)
Wikipedia – Cholesterol (units and reference ranges) (reference)

FAQ

Why do triglycerides use a different factor?

They are a different molecule (about 885 g/mol versus 386.65 g/mol for cholesterol), so 1 mmol/L of triglycerides is about 88.5 mg/dL while 1 mmol/L of cholesterol is 38.67 mg/dL.

What are common targets in both units?

LDL below 100 mg/dL is 2.6 mmol/L, below 70 mg/dL is 1.8 mmol/L; triglycerides below 150 mg/dL is 1.7 mmol/L.

Related calculators

LDL Cholesterol Calculator — Calculate LDL and non-HDL from a lipid panel.
Glucose Unit Converter — Glucose uses a different factor.