THE CHOLESTEROL PHOSPHOLIPID RATIO OF THE ERYTHROCYTE-MEMBRANE IN CHILDREN WITH FAMILIAL HYPERCHOLESTEROLEMIA - ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH PLASMA-LIPIDS AND RED-BLOOD-CELL AGGREGABILITY/

The cholesterol/phospholipid ratio (C/PL) of the red blood cell membra ne, plasma lipids and erythrocyte aggregability were evaluated in 20 c hildren with familial hypercholesterolemia (age: 10.4 +/- 4.6 years) b ut without detectable vascular injury. The results indicate that hyper cholesterolemic children have a higher erythrocyte membrane C/PL ratio than the control group (0.81 +/- 0.23 vs. 0.65 +/- 0.08, p < 0.01). T his membrane lipid alteration correlates inversely with the plasma con centration of HDL-cholesterol (r = -0.558, p < 0.010). The patients al so showed greater erythrocyte aggregability than the control group (8. 21 +/- 1.11 vs. 6.25 +/- 1.24, p < 0.001), but this does not seem to c orrelate with the changes observed in the lipid composition of the cel l membrane. These results suggest that from childhood, people with fam ilial hyper-cholesterolemia show alterations in the lipid composition of the red blood cell membrane that are related to the changes observe d in plasma lipids and appear prior to atherosclerotic vascular sympto ms.