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The lipoprotein composition of plasma and ascitic fluid in liver cirrhosis
Author(s) -
ZAMBON S.,
ORLANDO R.,
SARTORE G.,
BASSIx A.,
MANZATO E.,
CREPALDI G.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
european journal of clinical investigation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.164
H-Index - 107
eISSN - 1365-2362
pISSN - 0014-2972
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2362.1995.tb01540.x
Subject(s) - cirrhosis , medicine , chemistry , cholesterol , ascitic fluid , endocrinology , plasma lipoprotein , triglyceride , lipoprotein , very low density lipoprotein , blood plasma , ascites
. Lipoprotein particles were examined in plasma and ascitic fluid from nine patients (5 males and 4 females) with liver cirrhosis and in plasma from nine control subjects. LDL and HDL fractions were isolated by ultracentrifugation under rate flotation conditions in a zonal rotor. LDL size was analysed by non‐denaturing polyacrylamide gradient gel elec‐trophoresis. Plasma lipids in cirrhotic patients were markedly reduced compared to controls. Free cholesterol represented 45.3% of the total cholesterol in plasma and 70.4% of the total cholesterol in the ascitic fluid. The total cholesterol‐triglyceride ratio was three times higher in the plasma than in the ascitic fluid of cirrhotic patients. The LDL particles had the same flotation properties in plasma from cirrhotic patients as in that from controls. In cirrhotic patients the IDL concentration was higher than that in controls. In ascitic fluid the LDL particles had a higher flotation rate than in the plasma. The LDL diameter as measured by gradient gel electrophoresis was similar in both plasma and ascitic fluid of the cirrhotic patients as well as in the plasma of controls. In plasma and ascitic fluid of cirrhotic patients only a single HDL subclass (HDL 1 ) could be identified. HDL 1 particles had a higher flotation rate than normal HDL particles. The plasma levels of all the apoproteins were reduced in cirrhotic subjects compared to controls, but to a variable degree; while apo CII level in cirrhosis represented only 9% of the control level, the apo E level represented 77% of the control level. Lipoprotein particles from the plasma of patients with liver cirrhosis differed in several respects not only from normal particles but also from particles isolated from ascitic fluid in the same patient. These differences may prove useful for improving our understanding of normal lipoprotein metabolism and of the mechanisms involved in ascitic fluid formation.