DETERMINATION OF HUMAN SERUM LIPOPROTEIN PATTERNS BY AGAROSE GEL ELECTROPHORESIS

An electrophoretic procedure is reported for the separation and detection of lipoproteins in serum. The technique utilizes agarose gel as supporting medium and oil red O dye for staining; it is rapid, very sensitive, relatively simple, and inexpensive. In normal nonfasting human serum, one chylomicron zone at the origin, one β-lipoprotein band, one or two pre-beta bands, and two alpha bands were demonstrated consistently. Samples from patients representing the five hyperlipoproteinemic types produced distinctive lipoprotein patterns. The clear and sharp separation of the serum lipoproteins allows evaluation of their pattern by visual inspection; the recognition of additional subfractions may assist in subtyping of hyperlipoproteinemias. © 1969.