| Abstract: | Apolipoprotein A-I and high-density lipoprotein concentrations in the plasma of patients with liver disease have been found to be either normal or lower than normal. In this study the apolipoprotein A-I concentration was measured in the plasma of 19 patients with cholestatic liver disease and 21 patients with noncholestatic liver disease. To evaluate the severity of liver disease, serum albumin, prealbumin, bilirubin, and bile salts were also measured. Apolipoprotein A-I concentrations in plasma correlated positively with serum albumin (r = 0.55, p less than 0.001) and prealbumin (r = 0.57, p less than 0.001) and negatively with serum bilirubin (r = -0.47, p less than 0.01) and bile salts (r = -0.54, p less than 0.001). The apolipoprotein A-I level thus seems to reflect the severity of liver disease. This is presumably due to a decreased liver synthesis of apolipoprotein A-I in liver disease. |
