The behaviour of lipoprotein(a) in patients with various diseases

The plasma Lp(a) concentrations were evaluated in several groups of patients. Groups with liver cirrhosis (n = 20), type-1 diabetes mellitus (n = 148), type-2 diabetes mellitus (n = 65), hypertension (n = 51), lung cancer (n = 48) and deep venous thrombosis (n = 31) were compared with a group of healthy volunteers (n = 69). Significantly higher median values were found in the hypertension (142 mgl-1 vs. 43 mgl-1, p < 0.001) and lung cancer groups (241 mgl-1 vs. 43 mgl-1; p < 0.0001). Significantly lower values were recorded in the group with liver cirrhosis (11 mgl-1 vs. 43 mgl-1; p = 0.02). But in this last group there were significant differences between patients in the Child-Turcotte severity stages A to C.