Low IDL-B and high LDL-1 subfraction levels in serum of ALS patients

Introduction: Converging evidence highlights that lipid metabolism plays a key role in ALS pathophysiology. Dyslipidemia has been described in ALS patients and may be protective but peripheral lipoprotein subclasses have never been studied. Material and methods: We collected sera from 30 ALS patients and 30 gender and age-matched controls. We analyzed 11 distinct lipoprotein subclasses by linear polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (Lipoprint, Quantimetrix Corporation, USA). We also measured lipoprotein (a), apolipoprotein B, and apolipoprotein E levels. Results: ALS patients had significant higher total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, and LDL-cholesterol levels than controls (p < 0.0001, p = 0.0007, and p = 0.0065, respectively). The LDL-1 subfraction concentration was higher (1.03 +/- 0.41 vs. 0.71 +/- 028 mmol/L; p = 0.0006) and the IDL-B subfraction lower (6.5 2% vs. 8.0 2%; p = 0.001) in ALS patients than controls. Discussion: Our preliminary work confirmed the association between ALS and dyslipidemia. The low IDL-B levels may explain the hepatic steatosis frequently reported in ALS. The high levels of the cholesterol-rich LDL-1 subtraction is consistent with previously reported hypercholesterolemia. Conclusion: This study describes, for the first time, the distribution of serum lipoproteins in ALS patients, with low IDL-B and high LDL-1 subfraction level. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.