Distribution of CII and CIII peptides in lipoprotein classes: methods and clinical significance

We describe a method for measuring apolipoprotein (apo) C distribution between apo B-containing lipoprotein (apo B-LP) and non-apo B-LP. The procedure requires the precipitation of apo B-LP, the redissolution of the pellet, and the quantification of C peptides in the redissolved pellet. The ratio of apo C in non-apo B-LP to apo C in apo B-LP has been calculated for both CII and CII (R-CII and R-CIII, respectively). R-CII (0.49 +/- 0.25) and R-CIII (0.84 +/- 0.54) in patients on maintenance dialysis are significantly lower than in the control group (1.14 +/- 0.57 and 1.45 +/- 0.92, respectively), indicating that hypertriglyceridemia in these patients results from a reduced catabolism of triglyceride-rich LP (TGRLP). Patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) show a distribution of C peptides no different from the control group. Analysis of covariance reveals that the patterns of R-CII and R-CIII are not entirely predictable from the serum concentration of triglycerides. This result seems to support the hypothesis that the underlying metabolic defects involving TGRLP in dialysis patients are not the same as those in patients with CAD.