[Diagnostic significance of different apolipoprotein levels during hypertriglyceridemia]

Active receptor-mediated uptake of fatty acids (as lipids in VLDLP and LDLP) involves dynamic apolipoproteins apoE and apoC-III. Modern methods allow apoB-100 and apoA-1 to be determined both separately and together in HDLP and VLDLP+LDLP. We estimated diagnostic significance of simultaneous apoE and apoC-III determination in the serum and two LP classes in the patients having either physiological levels of triglycerides or moderate and pronounced hypertriglyceridemia. Serum apoE and apoC-III increased with increasing triglyceride levels and percent of prebeta-LP fractions in electrophoresis. There was significant correlation between apoE and apoC-II content in the sera and in apoB-100 LP. It precludes using measurements of apoproteins for differential assessment of VLDLP and LDLP uptake by the cells or differential diagnostics of primary phenotypes and secondary hyperlipoproteinemias. The apoE content in LDLP was increased only in 1/5 of the patients with marked hyertriglyceridemia. The ApoE an apoC-III content in lipoproteins is of no diagnostic value; it is enough to determine serum apoprotein levels. Significant correlation between HDLP cholesterol and apoA-1 and between LDLP and apoB-100 questions the necessity of measuring serum apoA-1 and apoB.