Short communicationEstimation of lipoprotein profile in patients with type II diabetes and its relevance to remnant lipoprotein cholesterol levels

BackgroundRemnant lipoprotein (RLP), associated with atherosclerosis progression, is often elevated in diabetes mellitus. The RLP level is estimated by immune-separation method and agarose-gel electrophoresis (AGE).MethodsThe patients were grouped into three groups according to tertile of RLP-cholesterol (RLP-C) levels. The lipoprotein profiles of type II diabetic patients (T2DM) (n = 194) were measured by an anion-exchange liquid chromatography (AEX-HPLC) and an AGE with lipid-staining or cholesterol-staining.ResultsIDL- and VLDL-cholesterol by the AEX-HPLC, and VLDL-levels by the AGE with lipid-staining and with cholesterol-staining were significantly different in the three groups. In all the subjects, IDL-cholesterol (r = 0.531) and VLDL-cholesterol (r = 0.880) by the AEX-HPLC method were strongly correlated with RLP-C, but only VLDL levels were correlated with RLP-C in AGE, respectively.ConclusionThese results suggest that the AEX-HPLC, which can provide cholesterol levels of not only VLDL but also IDL, is helpful for estimation of lipid profiles in T2DM with high RLP-C.