Improved method for quantitation of B apoprotein in plasma lipoproteins by electroimmunoassay

The B apoprotein occurs in a wide range of plasma lipoproteins, which are heterogenous both with respect to size and to composition. Immunochemical recognition of the apoprotein is influenced by the nature of the particle in which the apoprotein is found, presumably due to the masking of the antigenic sites by lipoprotein lipid. Consequently, it is difficult to provide suitable standards for use in routine electroimmunoassay procedures of the B apoprotein, particularly for triacylglycerol-rich lipoproteins. We have devised a procedure whereby lipoprotein samples, independent of their initial size and composition, are reduced, by use of a bacterial lipase, to a common size and composition, which is almost identical to that of the standard. This permits an assay that may be easily used routinely. It provides a far more reliable estimate of the absolute B apoprotein mass in plasma lipoproteins of the very-low- and low-density lipoprotein spectrum than has been previously available.