Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] and albumin concentrations in the serum of patients with acute phase response (APR). We have compared the Lp(a) concentrations and apolipoprotein [apo(a)] phenotypes of 40 controls with those of 40 APR patients with normoalbuminaemia and 40 APR patients with hypoalbuminaemia. We have also compared concentrations of haptoglobin (Hp) and α1-antitrypsin (AAT) containing a high sialic acid content, similar to Lp(a).
The mean serum Lp(a) concentration (SD) of the 40 controls was 0·190 (0·142) g/L. The mean serum Lp(a) concentration was 0·358 (0·257) g/L (P < 0·001) in 80 APR patients. However, there was no difference in serum Lp(a) concentrations between the APR patients with hypoalbuminaemia [0·353 (0·268) g/L] and the APR patients with normoalbuminaemia [0·362 (0·249) g/L]. No significant difference was found in the distributions of apo(a) phenotypes between the controls, the APR patients with hypoalbuminaemia, and the APR patients with normoalbuminaemia (P = 0·183). In the APR patients, the serum concentrations of AAT and Hp were respectively 2·709 (0·822) g/L and 2·631 (1·340) g/L, whereas those of normal controls were respectively 1·422 (0·219) g/L (P < 0·001) and 0·956 (0·442) g/L (P < 0·001).
In conclusion, the Lp(a) is one of the acute phase reactants whose synthesis concurrently increases with other APRs, especially those with a high sialic acid content. The increase of the serum Lp(a) concentrations in the APR patients is not related to serum albumin concentration.