Apheresis of low density lipoproteins using a heparin-based sorbent with low antithrombin III binding capacity

A sorbent based on heparin fraction with low affinity for antithrombin III is proposed for low density lipoproteins apheresis in hypercholesterolemia. Heparin was fractionated on antithrombin III-Sepharose; fractions with high and low affinity for antithrombin III were immobilized on CNBr-activated Sepharose 4B. Both sorbents appeared to have an LDL-binding capacity essentially similar to that of the sorbent based on unfractionated heparin. However only plasmasorption on a low affinity heparin-containing sorbent did not reduce plasma antithrombin III. Hence the use of this sorbent may be advantageous over the currently applied sorbents with unfractionated heparin in the treatment of familial hypercholesterolemia.