[Apolipoprotein B and A-I: cardiovascular risk factor?]

Apolipoprotein (apo) B is present in atherogenic lipoproteins (remnant Qm and VLDL, LDL and Lp (a)) and apo A is present in non-atherogenic lipoprotein (HDL). Measurement of the apos is automated, standardized, with a small variation of coefficient and does not require fasting blood samples. The authors reviewed clinical, epidemiological and therapeutic trials on hyperlipidemia with apo B and A-I evaluation. These works showed the importance of apo B and A-I as cardiovascular risk factors. Experts recommended apo B / apo A-I ratio as an alternative to TC / HDL-c ratio for risk estimate. Future positioning from the Guidelines is expected to include apos in individual risk prediction and as a therapeutic target. The authors suggest that, in clinical practice, measurement of apo B is necessary for coronary heart disease patients with desirable LDLc levels or when this assessment is not possible and the measurement of apo A-I if HDL-c values are very low.