Circulation. 1996;94:2351-2354
(Circulation. 1996;94:2351-2354.)
© 1996 American Heart Association, Inc.
Beyond LDL Cholesterol Reduction
H. Robert Superko, MD
Cholesterol, Genetics, and Heart Disease Institute and Berkeley HeartLab, San Mateo, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, Calif.
Correspondence to H. Robert Superko, MD, Cholesterol, Genetics, and Heart Disease Institute, 1875 S Grant St, Suite 700, San Mateo, CA 94402. E-mail superko@best.com. http://www.heartdisease.org.
Key Words: Editorials cholesterol lipoproteins
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Success of LDL-C Reduction
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Within the past decade, clinical trials of LDL-C reduction have
convincingly demonstrated that LDL-C reduction in primary and
secondary prevention trials can significantly reduce clinical
cardiac events.
1 Arteriographic investigations have demonstrated
that LDL-C reduction can significantly reduce the rate of arteriographically
defined disease progression.
1
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Failure of LDL-C Reduction
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Despite the success of LDL-C reduction, close examination of
the trial results reveals that a substantial number of subjects
who received treatment and achieved significant LDL-C reduction
still had a clinical event or evidence of arteriographic progression
(Table 1

). In the LRC-CPPT, for example, there was a 17% reduction
in clinical events, which was made up of 187 events in the control
group and 155 in the treatment group (32 fewer events). In SSSS,
there was a 30% reduction in clinical events, which was composed
of 622 events in the placebo group and 431 in the treatment
group (191 fewer events). Although the reduction in clinical
events is gratifying and laudable, it was not enough for the
155 subjects in the LRC-CPPT or the 431 subjects in SSSS who
received treatment yet still had an event. The reason for such
a large number of poor responders may lie in the prevalence
of metabolic abnormalities linked to atherosclerosis that are
not detected on routine laboratory tests and hence are not adequately
treated with just LDL-C reduction.
2 3 This issue also involves
the concept of monotherapy, which takes on added importance
with the report that multifactorial risk reduction reduces clinical
events significantly more than single therapy.
4
These disorders have a strong familial inheritance pattern, and CAD can be considered a genetic disease attributable to multiple gene-environment interactions.5 The Figure
illustrates the approximate prevalence of well-recognized lipoprotein disorders along with disorders not routinely screened for. The well-established disorders familial heterozygous hypercholesterolemia, familial combined hyperlipidemia, and hypoalphalipoproteinemia can be detected in
3% to 15% of CAD patients. Other disorders, such as apoprotein E isoform differences, hyperapobetalipoproteinemia, homocysteinemia, ALP disorder, and Lp(a), can be detected in
30% to 50% of male CAD patients.3

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Figure 1. Approximate frequency of inherited disorders linked to male CAD patients. The first three are detected on routine lipid panels. The remaining four are not diagnosed unless specific laboratory tests are performed. FH indicates familial heterozygous hypercholesterolemia; Hypoalpha, hypoalphalipoproteinemia; FCH, familial combined hyperlipidemia; Apo E 4/3, the presence of the E4 allele; and Homocyst, homocysteinemia.
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Lp(a) and the Laboratory Problem
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The evidence that elevated Lp(a), particularly in the presence
of other risk factors, is useful in predicting CAD risk is substantial.
6 Knowledge of a patient's Lp(a) value is of particular use in
predicting atherosclerosis risk when other risk factors, such
as high LDL-C, are present.
7 Although knowledge about the effect
of Lp(a) reduction is sparse, it is fast becoming a test requested
by physicians dealing with atherosclerosis. One of the problems
that argues against the routine use of a test for Lp(a) concentration
involves laboratory issues of precision, accuracy, and quality
control. In response to a local physician's inquiry regarding
a large discrepancy between Lp(a) measurements for one patient
determined in a commercial laboratory, we conducted a small
comparison study of laboratories offering this service (Table
2

). Samples were drawn from nine stable subjects for Lp(a) analysis
on two occasions 1 week apart and were sent to the LBNL and
three different commercial laboratories offering the test. At
the LBNL, the mean difference between tests was 2.7±2.7
mg/dL, with a maximum error of +5 and a minimum error of -1.
The commercial laboratories had either a larger mean difference
or a wide maximum-minimum range. This survey suggests a wide
variation in results for commercially available measurement
of Lp(a) and brings into question the clinical use of a test
with such wide measurement variation. One difficulty in Lp(a)
interpretation involves laboratory issues of quality control.
There are several methods of detecting Lp(a), including radioimmunoassay,
radial immunodiffusion, rocket immunoelectrophoresis, and ELISA.
8 The simple act of using different reagents or kits can result
in significant measurement variability, which has previously
been shown to be a problem with HDL-C measurement as well.
9 Furthermore, there is no universally accepted standard, and
even if all laboratories used the same reagents and protocol,
wide variation would be seen because of the lack of a universal
standard. Finally, Lp(a) is an acute-phase reactant, and some
variability may be physiological. Knowledge of a patient's Lp(a)
value can be clinically useful; however, performing this analysis
with accuracy, precision, and reproducibility is difficult,
and inaccurate results may result in inappropriate clinical
decisions. If clinicians wish to use this test, it would be
wise to obtain it from a laboratory linked to published research
studies that indicate population values and research quality
test results.
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Table 2. Mean difference, SD, and Minimum and Maximum Differences Between Two Measurements Drawn 1 Week Apart in Nine Subjects
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Atherogenic Lipoprotein Profile
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Although all the disorders in the figure have been linked to
CAD risk, one in particular, ALP, has significant basic science
and clinical trial support indicating that it is a useful clinical
tool. The importance of lipoprotein subclasses and triglyceride-rich
lipoprotein particles is not new; it dates back 30 years to
the groundbreaking work of Gofman et al presented at the 1965
Lyman Duff Memorial Lecture.
10 Serum samples from men in the
Framingham Study analyzed at LBNL revealed significantly higher
(
P<.001) LDL mass (Sf 0 to 12), IDL (Sf 12 to 20), and triglyceride-rich
particles in the Sf 20 to 100 and Sf 100 to 400 ranges in subjects
who developed CAD compared with those who did not. Because of
correlation between several of the variables, it was not possible
to translate the positive findings into any statement of independent
contribution. The results of the Livermore Study were consistent
with these results and indicated that lipoprotein classes other
than LDL, particularly triglyceride-rich, more buoyant particles,
contribute significantly to CAD risk.
Since 1965, a substantial body of knowledge has become available regarding specific biochemical and metabolic features of the IDL, LDL, and HDL subpopulations that relate to atherogenesis.11 12 The ALP, which is characterized by a predominance of small, dense LDL particles, is also associated with reduced levels of HDL2, increased postprandial lipemia, LDL particles susceptible to oxidation due to reduced vitamin E content, enhanced arterial wall uptake, and insulin resistance. Thus, the ALP trait, also called LDL subclass pattern B, is a heritable trait composed of several metabolic disorders that result in an atherogenic metabolic stew. This body of knowledge was recently acknowledged by the 27th Bethesda Conference of the American College of Cardiology, Task Force 4.13
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ALP: The Clinical Evidence
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The CAD risk associated with ALP has been demonstrated in the
Boston Area Heart Health Project and most recently in the prospective
Physicians' Health Survey and the Stanford Five City Project,
in which the LDL pattern B was associated with a threefold increased
CAD risk independent of many of the classic CAD risk factors,
including total cholesterol, HDL-C, body mass index, and apolipoprotein
B.
14 15 In the Stanford Five City Project, LDL size was reported
to be the strongest physiological risk factor in conditional
logistic regression. ALP has many of the metabolic characteristics
of noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, and indeed,
the small LDL pattern B trait has also been shown to be a risk
factor for the future development of noninsulin-dependent
diabetes mellitus and implies that the small LDL trait contributes
to the risk of CAD in prediabetic subjects.
16
Over the past several years the importance of lipoprotein subclasses for arteriographic determinants of atherosclerosis has been clarified. In a nonhypercholesterolemic CAD population, the natural history of arteriographic progression and clinical events was significantly correlated with IDL and HDL but not LDL.17 The characteristics of elevated IDL and reduced HDL are found in LDL subclass pattern B subjects. The NHLBI-II trial reported in 1987 that subjects classified as showing arteriographic "stability" had significantly greater reductions in total LDL mass (Sf 0 to 12), small LDL (Sf 0 to 7), and IDL (Sf 12 to 20).18 The MARS trial reported that in patients successfully treated with a statin and achieving an LDL-C <85 mg/dL, triglyceride-rich lipoprotein levels were the predominant predictor of progression.19 The STARS investigation reported that "dense" LDL was reduced significantly more in the group classified as showing arteriographic regression than in the progression group and that reduction in dense LDL was the best predictor of arteriographic outcome.20 In a recent Circulation article, the Stanford Coronary Risk Intervention Project reported that despite almost identical LDL-C reduction in patients with predominantly dense (probable pattern B) or buoyant (probable pattern A) LDL particles, there was no significant arteriographic difference between treatment and control pattern A subjects, whereas a significant reduction in the rate of arteriographic progression was seen in the treatment versus control dense LDL (probable pattern B) subjects.21 This body of knowledge reflects the importance of lipoprotein subclasses in the atherogenic process that was first raised by Gofman and colleagues.10
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ALP: Differential Response to Treatment
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Individual variability in response to lipid treatment has been
clinically observed for many years. The presence of LDL subclass
pattern A or B explains a portion of this variability. The importance
of this issue is exemplified by the Helsinki Trial, which reported
that a subset of subjects characterized by moderate elevations
in triglycerides and characteristics of the insulin-resistance
syndrome, which is similar to the small-LDL trait, received
the majority of the clinical event reduction benefit from gemfibrozil
treatment.
22 23 Likewise, this indicates that subjects without
these traits received little clinical event benefit from gemfibrozil
treatment. Recently, in a double-blind, randomized trial, gemfibrozil
has been reported to have little to no effect on total LDL mass
in LDL pattern A and B individuals.
24 In LDL pattern B subjects,
however, there was a significant reduction in small LDL counterbalanced
by a significant increase in large LDL, whereas LDL pattern
A subjects revealed no gemfibrozil effect in either large or
small LDLs. A similar differential response to therapy between
LDL pattern A and B subjects has been reported with nicotinic
acid, bile acidbinding resin, and reduced-fat diet therapy.
25 26 27 Thus, common lipid-altering therapies can have significant
effects on lipoprotein subclass distributions that are not revealed
by routine tests of lipoprotein cholesterol. These differences
in response can guide the clinician toward choosing the most
efficacious treatment for individual patients.
The importance of triglyceride-rich lipoprotein particles has now been established at the basic science level, in animal studies, in cross-sectional and prospective human trials, and in arteriographic "regression" trials (Table 3
). Measures of these particles provide diagnostic and response-to-treatment information that is not available through routine lipid panels. This abundance of evidence now makes the application of this knowledge on a clinical level attractive, because it refines diagnostic and therapeutic abilities and provides improved health care.
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One of the Remaining Problems
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A remaining problem involves the laboratory aspects of measuring
triglyceride-rich lipoproteins or lipoprotein subclass distribution.
One method for determining the presence of triglyceride-rich
particles is by determination of apoproteins associated with
these particles. However, only a few large clinical trials have
used this approach.
19 28 The presence of large or small LDL
and IDL and VLDL mass in many of the investigations mentioned
above has been determined by ANUC at the LBNL. This is the same
method as that pioneered by Drs John Gofman and Frank Lindgren.
Although it provides tremendous detail, its clinical use is
hindered by the expense and the expertise required to maintain
and operate the system. Other techniques are available, including
density gradient ultracentrifugation and GGE. Of these, GGE
has been used in the largest number of clinical trials and can
provide detailed information on LDL particle size and percent
distribution in seven LDL subclasses.
29 The GGE method at the
LBNL also benefits from the ability to compare both ANUC and
GGE results obtained simultaneously in numerous clinical trials.
Thus, a cost-effective correlation between ANUC results and
GGE results can be obtained, and lessons learned from these
clinical trials can be applied to patient management. A problem
with the GGE methodology was created several years ago, when
the gels used most often by researchers in the field were no
longer commercially available. This required that research institutions
develop their own gel production methods, which provide adequate
supplies for research purposes, but a large commercial supply
of gels proven to provide adequate information appears to be
lacking. In addition, although the percent distribution within
LDL subclasses can be reproducibly determined, quantification
of cholesterol content in subclasses is not currently available.
Future tests should include quantitative subclass distribution
as well as quantification of IDL particles.
Although ongoing and future investigations will add knowledge to our understanding of lipoprotein subclasses and CAD, enough evidence exists to use our present knowledge to provide a more refined approach to atherosclerosis risk determination and treatment with our current tools. Elevated LDL-C is only one of several metabolic disorders contributing to CAD risk. The importance of the small-LDL pattern B trait and triglyceride-rich lipoproteins probably exceeds that of LDL-C, because more CAD patients are found to have the LDL pattern B trait than hypercholesterolemia. Application of this knowledge assists in creating the optimal metabolic milieu to encourage atherosclerosis stability, provides clinicians with additional tools with which to make therapeutic decisions, and affects cost-effectiveness by matching the disorder to the most appropriate therapy. Each day we wait, more lives are damaged. Now is the time to implement these changes. As Mark Twain was reputed to have said, "You may be on the right track, but, if you just sit there, you'll get run over."
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Selected Abbreviations and Acronyms
|
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| ALP |
= |
atherogenic lipoprotein profile |
| ANUC |
= |
analytic ultracentrifugation |
| CAD |
= |
coronary artery disease |
| GGE |
= |
gradient gel electrophoresis |
| HDL-C |
= |
HDL cholesterol |
| LBNL |
= |
Donner Laboratory at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory |
| LDL-C |
= |
LDL cholesterol |
| Lp(a) |
= |
lipoprotein(a) |
| Sf |
= |
Svedberg flotation unit |
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Footnotes
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The opinions expressed in this editorial are not necessarily
those of the editors or of the American Heart Association.
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