Quantitative determination of high-, low-, and very-low-density lipoproteins and lipoprotein(a) by agarose gel electrophoresis and enzymatic cholesterol staining.
Quantification of lipoprotein cholesterol was performed by enzymatic staining of cholesterol in a new agarose gel electrophoresis method that allows the separation of LDL, VLDL, HDL, and lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)]. Lp(a) shows an electrophoretic mobility clearly distinct from VLDL and HDL. The total CVs of lipoprotein cholesterol varied between 2.7% and 3.9% for LDL, 7.8% and 23.2% for VLDL, 5.2% and 9.5% for HDL, and 6.8% and 16.4% for Lp(a). Comparison of LDL-, VLDL-, and HDL-cholesterol concentrations with the results of a combined ultracentrifugation and precipitation technique gave correlation coefficients of 0.961, 0.947, and 0.918, respectively; comparison of Lp(a)-cholesterol values with those of a nephelometric Lp(a) assay gave r = 0.906. The new electrophoretic assay has several advantages: It allows the quantification of Lp(a)-cholesterol; VLDL-cholesterol is not affected by Lp(a)-cholesterol; and the LDL-cholesterol fraction does not contain Lp(a)-cholesterol, as happens with LDL-cholesterol determined by ultracentrifugation and precipitation.
D000328:Adult; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood*; D004587:Electrophoresis, Agar Gel; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017270:Lipoprotein(a) / Q000097:blood*; D008075:Lipoproteins, HDL / Q000097:blood*; D008077:Lipoproteins, LDL / Q000097:blood*; D008079:Lipoproteins, VLDL / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013194:Staining and Labeling; D014461:Ultracentrifugation
D017270:Lipoprotein(a); D008075:Lipoproteins, HDL; D008077:Lipoproteins, LDL; D008079:Lipoproteins, VLDL; D002784:Cholesterol