Lipoprotein structural abnormalities in chronic renal failure with and without hemodialysis

Nine patients with chronic renal failure in maintenance hemodialysis (CRF-HD) and nine without hemodialysis (CRF) showed similar modifications in the structure and composition of VLDL and LDL isolated by density gradient centrifugation as compared to normal controls. In very low density lipoproteins (VLDL), the ratios of triglycerides to protein and of cholesterol to protein were strongly correlated. All patients, independently of their cholesterol and triglyceride levels, presented a "beta-VLDL" caused by an increment in the isoelectric point of the particles in the density range 1.006-1.019 g/ml. This was probably due to the augmented proportion of apoB in them and is not associated with the E2 phenotype. The results indicate that the structural modifications of VLDL and low density lipoprotein (LDL), present in chronic renal failure, are not changed by maintenance hemodialysis and that they are not necessarily associated with hyperlipidemia.