title: Hypocholesterolemia in patients with polycythemia vera.
abstract: Polycythemia vera (PV) is characterized by low serum total cholesterol despite its association with vascular events such as myocardial and cerebral infarction. Serum cholesterol level has not been used as a diagnostic criterion for PV since the 2008 revision of the WHO classification. Therefore, we revisited the relationship between serum lipid profile, including total cholesterol level, and erythrocytosis. The medical records of 34 erythrocytosis patients (hemoglobin : men, > 18.5 g/dL ; women, > 16.5 g/dL) collected between August 2005 and December 2011 were reviewed for age, gender, and lipid profiles. The diagnoses of PV and non-PV erythrocytosis were confirmed and the in vitro efflux of cholesterol into plasma in whole blood examined. The serum levels of total cholesterol, low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-Ch), and apolipoproteins A1 and B were lower in PV than in non-PV patients. The in vitro release of cholesterol into the plasma was greater in PV patients than in non-PV and non-polycythemic subjects. Serum total cholesterol, LDL-Ch, and apolipoproteins A1 and B levels are lower in patients with PV than in those with non-PV erythrocytosis. The hypocholesterolemia associated with PV may be attributable to the sequestration of circulating cholesterol into the increased number of erythrocytes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Transfusion Medicine, Tokyo Metropolitan Bokutoh Hospital, Tokyo, Japan. yuketsuka@bokutoh-hp.metro.tokyo.jp
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fujita
authors.forename: Tamae
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hamaki
authors.forename: Naoko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Handa
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ohwada
authors.forename: Junji
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tomiyama
authors.forename: Shigeko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nishimura
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D016632:Apolipoprotein A-I / Q000097:blood; D001055:Apolipoproteins B / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood* / Q000172:deficiency*; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL / Q000097:blood; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011086:Polycythemia / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis; D011087:Polycythemia Vera / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D016632:Apolipoprotein A-I; D001055:Apolipoproteins B; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL; D006454:Hemoglobins; D002784:Cholesterol