Serum lipoprotein patterns in patients with coronary atherosclerosis

A newly developed agarose gel electrophoretic technique which separates the pre-β-lipoproteins into subfractions, has been applied in the determination of serum lipoprotein patterns in patients undergoing coronary catheterization. A correlation is established between the presence of one or two lipoprotein pre-β bands with the presence or absence of coronary atherosclerosis by coronary cineangiography. It was found that two pre-β bands were present in 47% of patients without demonstrable coronary atherosclerosis and in 90% of patients with coronary atherosclerosis. The agarose gel electrophoretic technique is recommended as a screening test prior to coronary cineangiography.