Lipoprotein Assessment in the twenty-first Century

Based on decades of both basic science and epidemiologic research, there is overwhelming evidence for the causal relationship between high levels of cholesterol, especially low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and cardiovascular disease. Risk evaluation and monitoring the response to lipid-lowering therapies are heavily dependent on the accurate assessment of plasma lipoproteins in the clinical laboratory. This article provides an update of lipoprotein metabolism as it relates to atherosclerosis and how diagnostic measures of lipids and lipoproteins can serve as markers of cardiovascular risk, with a focus on recent advances in cardiovascular risk marker testing.