Clinical significance of serum cholesterol levels in multiple myeloma

Abstract

Objective To investigate the relationship between serum cholesterol levels and immunoglobin types and clinical stages in the patients with multiple myeloma (MM). Methods We retrospectively analyzed the blood lipid levels in 65 patients with MM at diagnosis, including total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), apolipoprotein Al (apo-Al) and apolipoprotein B (apo-B), and explored relationship between lipid parameters and immunoglobulin types or clinical stages in patients with MM. Thirty healthy persons were served as controls. Results Of the 65 MM patients, 53.85% were IgG type, 63.1 % were at stage Ⅲ. The levels of TC, HDL-C, LDL-C, apo Al and apo B in the patients with MM were significantly lower than that in the controls (P 0.05). Except one case of IgD type, the levels of TC, HDL-C, LDL-C, apo Al and apo B in Ig G and Ig A types of patients were significantly lower than that in the light chain type among other 64 cases (P <0.05), and TG levels in different immunoglobulin types was found no statistical differences. The levels of TC, HDL-C, LDL-C and apo A1 in the patients with stage Ⅲ were lower than that of stage I and controls (P <0.05), furthermore, the level of LDL in stage Ⅱwas lower than that in stage Ⅰ. Conclusion Hypocholesterolemia are seen in the patients with MM and serum cholesterol levels are related to MM staging. Key words: Multiple myeloma; Laboratory techniques and procedures; Cholestero