Lipoprotein mass concentrations were measured by analytical ultracentrifugation in a subset of 57 hypercholesterolaemic male participants in the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Type II Coronary Intervention Study. 2-year changes in levels of intermediate-density lipoproteins (IDL) of flotation rate 12-20 were strongly predictive of progression of coronary artery disease at 5 years. Changes in serum mass concentrations of low-density lipoproteins (LDL; flotation rate 0-12), very-low-density lipoproteins (VLDL; flotation rate 20-400), high-density lipoproteins (HDL), and the HDL₂ and HDL₃ subfractions did not differ significantly between men with and without definite progression of coronary artery disease. The relation of IDL mass to disease progression remained significant (p <0.05) after adjustment for group assignment to cholestyramine treatment or placebo and was only slightly reduced (p≤0.06) by adjustment for changes in LDL mass concentrations. Changes in IDL mass and ratios of HDL-cholesterol to total-cholesterol or LDL-cholesterol were inversely correlated and had a similar ability to predict progression.