Short- and Long-Term Biological Variability of Small Dense LDL, HDL3, and Triglyceride-Rich Lipoprotein Cholesterol

• Published in: The journal of applied laboratory medicine 2022-09, Vol.7 (5), p.1047-1061
• Main Authors: Fatica, Erica M, Jenkins, Sarah M, Scott, Renee J, Block, Darci R, Meeusen, Jeffrey W, Baumann, Nikola A, Saenger, Amy K, Donato, Leslie J
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2475-7241; 2576-9456; 2475-7241
• DOI: 10.1093/jalm/jfac039

BACKGROUNDMeasurement of cholesterol within lipoprotein subfractions may aid in cardiovascular disease prediction. Simple, homogenous enzymatic assays for the direct measurement of lipoprotein subfractions have been developed to measure small dense low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (sdLDL-C), high-density lipoprotein-3 cholesterol (HDL3-C), and triglyceride-rich lipoprotein (TRL-C) cholesterol. The objective of this study was to determine biological variability for sdLDL-C, HDL3-C, and TRL-C in a healthy reference population to facilitate interpretation of these analytes. METHODSSerum samples were collected from 24 healthy subjects (n = 14 female/10 male) daily for 3 days while non-fasting, and daily for 5 days, weekly for 4 weeks, and monthly for 6 months after overnight fasting. sdLDL-C, HDL3-C, and TRL-C cholesterol were measured by homogenous enzymatic assays. Sources of variability (between-subject, within-subject, and analytical) were calculated using random-effects regression models. Reference change value (RCV) and index of individuality (II) for each time period were determined from the variance components. RESULTSAnalytic variability (daily, weekly, and monthly CVA) was