Background: Here, we aim to identify defects of apolipoprotein (apo) B lipoprotein metabolism that characterize hypertriglyceridemia, focusing on apoC-III and apoE.
Methods and results: We studied the transport of plasma apoB within 21 distinct subfractions as separated by anti-apoC-III and anti-apoE immunoaffinity chromatography and ultracentrifugation in 9 patients with moderate hypertriglyceridemia and 12 normotriglyceridemic control subjects. Hypertriglyceridemia was characterized by a 3-fold higher liver secretion of very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) that had apoC-III but not apoE and a 50% lower secretion of VLDL with both apoC-III and apoE (both P<0.05). This shift in VLDL secretion pattern from apoE to apoC-III resulted in significantly reduced clearance of light VLDL (-39%; P<0.05), compatible with the antagonizing effects of apoC-III on apoE-induced clearance of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins. In addition, rate constants for clearance were reduced for apoE-containing triglyceride-rich lipoproteins in hypertriglyceridemia, associated with increased apoC-III contents of these particles. LDL distribution shifted from light and medium LDL to dense LDL in hypertriglyceridemia through a quartet of kinetic perturbations: increased flux from apoC-III-containing triglyceride-rich lipoproteins, a shift in liver LDL secretion pattern from light to dense LDL, an increased conversion rate from light and medium LDL to dense LDL, and retarded catabolism of dense LDL.
Conclusions: These results support a central role for apoC-III in metabolic defects leading to hypertriglyceridemia. Triglyceride-rich lipoprotein metabolism shifts from an apoE-dominated system in normotriglyceridemic participants characterized by rapid clearance from circulation of VLDL to an apoC-III-dominated system in hypertriglyceridemic patients characterized by reduced clearance of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins and the formation of the dense LDL phenotype.