Objective. To investigate the lipoprotein (a) (Lp (a)) levels and apol
ipoprotein (a) (ape (a)) phenotypes in a group of urban black South Af
rican men. Design. Cross-sectional design. Setting. Lead acid battery
plant, East London, Eastern Cape. Participants. Blood samples from a s
tudy on the association between lead and renal failure were kindly don
ated for the present study and 111 of the. donors participated (K Stey
n - personal communication). Outcome measures. Lp (a) levels and apo (
a) phenotypes. Results. Three groups were identified: those with norma
l (< 300 U/I), intermediate (300-700 U/I) and high (> 700 U/I) plasma
Lp (a) concentrations. Nine apo (a) phenotypes and 26 combinations the
reof could be discerned. Apart from the single-and double-band phenoty
pes described before, triple-band phenotypes were also present. As the
Lp (a) values increased, the relative frequency of the single-band ph
enotype decreased, whereas the relative frequency of the double-band p
henotype increased. The relative frequency of the triple-band phenotyp
e was highest in the group with high Lp (a) concentrations. No correla
tion was evident between the size of the apo (a) isoforms and the Lp (
a) concentrations. Conclusions. Raised plasma Lp (a) levels have been
associated with coronary heart disease (CHD). In addition, it has been
proposed that the apo (a) gene determined plasma Lp (a) concentration
s. These studies were performed using plasma from white subjects. CHD
is uncommon in black South Africans. The reason may be that, given the
lack of relationship between the size of the apo (a) isoforms and the
Lp (a) concentrations observed in the present study, factors other th
an the isoform size may determine the ip (a) levels in this particular
ethnic group.