Classification of lipoprotein profile by polyacrylamide gel disc electrophoresis.

Abstract

We studied the relationship between the polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) pattern of lipoproteins and other indicators of lipid metabolism. Fasting serum lipid was analyzed in 108 Japanese hyperlipidemic and normolipidemic subjects (39 males and 69 females, 63.5 +/- 6.4 years old). We classified the lipoprotein profile by PAGE into the following four types (SAND); Type S (symmetric), Type A (asymmetric), Type N (nodular), and Type D (disrupted). The relationship between WHO classification of hyperlipidemias and SAND classification was analyzed. Normolipidemic subjects were classified into Types S, A, and N. Type IIa subjects were classified into Types S, A, and N. Type IIb subjects were classified into Types S, A, N, and D. Type IV subjects were classified into Types N and D. Serum total cholesterol (TC) was not different among the SAND types, but serum triglyceride (TG) was significantly different among the types. Serum TG tended to increase from Type S to Type D. VLDL-cholesterol (C) increased from Type S to Type D. LDL-C showed a trend to decrease from Type S to Type D, but without significance. HDL-C significantly decreased from Type S to Type D. VLDL-TG, LDL-TG, and HDL-TG increased from Type S to Type D. TC/TG, HDL-C/TG, LDL-C/LDL-TG, and HDL-C/HDL-TG ratios all significantly decreased from Type S to Type D. However, VLDL-C/VLDL-TG was not different among the groups. SAND classification of lipoprotein profile may offer a new clinical tool to cover the weak point of WHO classification.