Lipoprotein and apolipoprotein metabolism among patients under chronic hemodialysis treatment

Pathogenic factors that may contribute to hypertriglyceridemia were studied in 55 patients who have been undergoing chronic hemodialysis treatment. Increased levels of triglyceride were observed in the patient group compared to normal controls [190 +/- 93 mg/dL vs. 121 +/- 45 mg/dL, p<0.05]. Similarly, augmented concentrations of VLDL-C were observed among patients compared to the control subjects [36 +/- 18 mg/dL vs. 24 +/- 8 mg/dL, p<0.05]. The major fraction of serum cholesterol was distributed in LDL and lesser amounts were measured in VLDL and HDL. The HDL-C fraction did not display significant variation in the patient group as compared to normal subjects. Apo B levels were higher in the patient group compared to normal subjects [97 +/- 26 mg/dL vs. 87 +/- 14 mg/dL, p<0.05]. In addition, apo A-I levels were significantly lower in the patient group compared to control subjects [84 +/- 13 mg/dL vs. 119 +/- 14 mg/dL, p<0.05]. A reverse relationship was observed between the concentration of plasma albumin and total cholesterol which may explain the reason for overproduction of lipids in renal failure, although other factors may contribute to the increased lipoprotein production observed in patients receiving chronic hemodialysis treatment