Preparative ultracentrifugal and electrophoretic analysis of serum
lipoproteins was performed in 30-70-year-old healthy, fasting males (N = 80) and females (N = 77), randomly selected from the Uppsala region, Sweden. The concentrations of
cholesterol and
triglycerides in total serum and in VLDL,
LDL and HDL
lipoprotein classes are reported. Total serum, VLDL and
LDL triglycerides and
cholesterol concentrations increased with age, while
HDL cholesterol and
triglyceride concentrations did not vary with age.
Overweight persons had higher total serum
triglyceride, higher
VLDL cholesterol and
triglyceride and lower
HDL cholesterol levels. The upper 90% population limit values for non-
overweight males/females were: total
triglycerides (mmol/l) 2.5/2.0, total
cholesterol (mg/100 ml) 298/300,
VLDL triglyceride 1.80/1.05,
VLDL-cholesterol 32/33,
LDL triglyceride 0.69/0.69,
LDL cholesterol 210/218,
HDL triglyceride 0.32/0.34 and
HDL-cholesterol 69/93. The 2 major differences between males and females were that females had lower VLDL but higher HDL concentrations. For VLDL there was a very strong and for
LDL a moderately strong positive correlation between
cholesterol and
triglyceride contents. In HDL however, the mearsured amounts of
cholesterol and
triglycerides did not correlate at all. Sinking
pre-beta lipoproteins was found in about 25% of cases and a second pre-beta band floating at d 1.006, late pre-beta, was found in 35% of male and 25% of female subjects. Subjects with sinking
pre-beta lipoprotein did not differ from other subjects with regard to the concentration of
cholesterol and
triglycerides in the 3
lipoprotein classes. Males, but not females, with the late pre-beta (LPB), had an increased amount of
cholesterol in VLDL and a raised
cholesterol-
triglyceride ratio in this
lipoprotein class. Also the
LDL triglyceride level was increased in males with the late
pre-beta lipoprotein.