Screening for serum lipoprotein abnormalities: Comparison of ultracentrifugal, paper and thin-layer starch-gel electrophoresis techniques.

Three methods for evaluation of serum lipoprotein abnormalities were compared: paper electrophoresis using buffer containing albumin, ultracentrifugation at d 1.21, and thin-layer starch-gel electrophoresis. Analyses by paper electrophoresis and by ultracentrifugation of 109 sera of patients with cholesterol levels between 78 and 1150 mg/100 ml showed that the electrophoretic procedure while not quantitative was an effective procedure for detecting and helping in classification of the type of serum lipoprotein abnormality. Paper electrophoresis is a valuable procedure in screening for lipoprotein abnormalities and can be used as a guide for additional studies. Thin-layer starchgel electrophoresis did not always give results comparable to those of the other two procedures. In study of certain sera (for example, in pigeon serum and some myeloma sera) lipoprotein subfractions were more clearly resolved by starch-gel electrophoresis than by paper electrophoresis or ultracentrifugation. Ultracentrifugal and starch-gel electrophoretic techniques can be used effectively when more complete information is needed or when unusual materials are being studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]