TYPE-III HYPERLIPOPROTEINEMIA AND RENAL-DISEASE

Twelve patients (seven women and five men) were identified with chronic renal disease and homozygosity for apolipoprotein (apo) E2. All subjects were shown to have dysbetalipoproteinemia (an elevated ratio of very-low-density lipoprotein cholesterol to serum triglycerides, i.e., >0.3) and/or type III hyperlipoproteinemia (HLP). The causes of the renal disease were heterogeneous and no significant correlations could be shown between lipid levels and age of the patients, duration of the renal disease, or maintenance hemodialysis. However, renal disease seems to be one of the factors influencing the phenotypic expression of type III HLP in genetically predisposed individuals. Hence, apo E2 homozygotes with renal disease might be particularly prone to the development of hyperlipidemia, and thus accelerated atherosclerosis.