Distribution of apoA-I-containing HDL subpopulations in patients with coronary heart disease

High density lipoproteins (HDLs) and their subspecies play a role in the de velopment of coronary heart disease (CHD). HDL subpopulations were measured by 2-dimensional nondenaturing gel electrophoresis in 79 male control subj ects and 76 male CHD patients to test the hypothesis that,greater differenc es in apolipoprotein (apo)A-I-containing HDL subpopulations would exist bet ween these 2, groups than for traditional lipid levels. In CHD subjects, HD L cholesterol HDL-C) was lower (-14%, P<0.001), whereas total cholesterol a nd the low density lipoprotein cholesterol/HDL-C ratio were higher (9% [P<0 .05] and 21%[P<0.01], respectively) compared with control levels. No signif icant differences were found for low: density lipoprotein cholesterol, trig lyceride, and apoA-I levels. In CHD subjects, there were significantly (P<0 .001) lower concentrations of the large lipoprotein (Lp)A-I alpha (1) (-35% ), pre-alpha (1) (-50%), pre-alpha (2) (-33%) and pre-alpha (3) (-31%) subp opulations, whereas the concentrations of the small LpA-I/A-II alpha (3), p articles were significantly (P<0.001) higher (20%). Because <alpha>(1) was decreased more than HDL-C and plasma apoA-I concentrations in CHD subjects, the ratios of HDL-C to alpha (1) and of apoA-I to alpha (1) were significa ntly (P<0.001) higher by 36% and 57% respectively, compared with control va lues. Subjects with low HDL-C levels (<less than or equal to>35 mg/dL) have different distributions of apoA-I-containing HDL subpopulations than do su bjects with normal HDL-C levels (>35 mg/dL). Therefore, We stratified parti cipants according to HDL-C concentrations into low and normal groups. The d ifferences in lipid levels between controls and HDL-C-matched cases substan tially decreased; however, the significant differences in HDL subspecies re mained. Our research findings support the concept that compared with contro l subjects, CHD patients not only have HDL deficiency but also have a major rearrangement in the HDL subpopulations with significantly lower alpha (1) and pre-alpha (1-3) (LpA-I) and significantly higher alpha (3) (LpA-I/A-II ) particles.