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 development of coronary heart disease (CHD). HDL subpopulations were measured by 2-dimensional nondenaturing gel electrophoresis in 79 male control subjects and 76 male CHD patients to test the hypothesis that greater differences in apolipoprotein (apo)A-I-containing HDL subpopulations would exist between these 2 groups than for traditional lipid levels. In CHD subjects, HDL cholesterol (HDL-C) was lower (-14%, P35 mg/dL). Therefore, we stratified participants according to HDL-C concentrations into low and normal groups. The differences in lipid levels between controls and HDL-C-matched cases substantially decreased; however, the significant differences in HDL subspecies remained. Our research findings support the concept that compared with control 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.