The effect of serum oncotic pressure on serum cholesterol levels: a study in "normal" and nephrotic subjects

Clinical data in neprtotic and nonnephrotic subjects were examined to help delineate the mechanism of hypercholesterolemia in nephrotic syndrome. Analyses of the relationship between total serum cholesterol and serum albumin levels and between total serum cholesterol and calculated serum oncotic pressure in 500 nonnephrotic individuals revealed strong positive correlations (r = 0.9714, p less than 0.001 and r = 0.9720, p less than 0.001, respectively). Serum beta-lipoprotein concentration was found to bear an inverse relationship to measured serum oncotic pressure in 13 nephrotic patients (r = -0.8192, p less than 0.01). Our results lend support to the thesis that serum oncotic pressure is the major governing factor in hypercholesterolemia in nephrotic syndrome.