[Value of lipoprotein electrophoresis for the quantitative assessment of plasma lipoproteins]

The reliability of semiquantitative densitometric lipoprotein electrophoresis was compared with that of the quantitative determination of plasma lipoproteins by zonal ultracentrifugation on plasma from 73 patients. As an alternative to the measurement of lipoproteins by electrophoresis other, simple laboratory methods were used and also compared with plasma lipoprotein concentrations obtained by zonal ultracentrifugation. It was found that quantitative measurement of plasma lipoproteins by densitometric electrophoresis correlated positively to actual plasma concentration by zonal ultracentrifugation, but other simple methods of lipid determination--of plasma cholesterol; of triglycerides; of HDL and LDL cholesterol--are definitely better for obtaining plasma lipoprotein concentrations. Lipoprotein electrophoresis should not be used for the quantitative determination of plasma lipoproteins.