Apolipoprotein A-I, A-II and C-II in black and white residents of Evans County.

Plasma levels of lipids, lipoprotein-cholesterol and three major apolipoproteins (ApoA-I, A-II and C-II) were studied in 318 black and white males and females randomly sampled in Evans County, Georgia. Black-white differences in lipid and lipoprotein-cholesterol concentrations were observed, with low-density fractions higher in whites and high-density fractions higher in blacks. Plasma levels of ApoA-I but not ApoA-II were higher in blacks than in whites and in females than in males. ApoC-II concentrations were lower in black than in white men and women. Black-white differences in atherogenic lipoprotein fractions were statistically explained (in the sense of association, not necessarily of causal process) by the differences in ApoC-II concentrations between the race groups. Black-white differences in anti etherogenic high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol were greater than statistically predicted by differences in ApoA lipoprotein levels. The findings are indicative of black-white differences in lipoprotein composition.