RETURN TO NORMAL VALUES OF LIPID PATTERN AFTER EFFECTIVE CHEMOTHERAPYIN ACUTE LYMPHOBLASTIC-LEUKEMIA

In the present work we investigated HDL-C and its subfractions HDL(2) and HDL(3) as well as total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), LDL- C, VLDL-C, apolipoproteins Al (ApoA1) and B (ApoB) and lipoprotein (a) (Lp(a) in 25 patients with newly diagnosed acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) before and after induction treatment. The mean basal plasma lev els of TC, HDL-C and its subfractions, LDL-C, and ApoAl were significa ntly lower than the mean values observed in normal subjects, whereas T G and VLDL-C were significantly higher. The patients (n=22) who achiev ed complete remission after chemotherapy showed a significant increase of TC, HDL-C, HDL(2), HDL(3), ApoAl and a significant decrease of TG and VLDL-C. These data suggest that ALL patients are characterized by a lipid metabolic derangement mainly of HDL and TG-rich lipoproteins, that is reversed by effective treatment of disease.