Decreased clearance of low-density lipoprotein in uremic patients under dialysis treatment

The clearance of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) was studied in eleven patients on hemodialysis (HD) treatment and nine patients on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) treatment and compared with the clearance of LDL in nine control subjects. The clearance rates for LDL (fractional catabolic rate, FCR) in all the uremic patients (FCR for LDL 0.305 +/- 0.075 pools/day, mean +/- SD) were significantly lower than the clearance of LDL in the control subjects (FCR for LDL 0.376 +/- 0.045 pools/day; P = 0.01). The clearance of LDL in the HD patients (FCR for LDL 0.334 +/- 0.066 pools/day) was only mildly decreased in comparison to the control subjects (P = 0.122), but the clearance of LDL in the CAPD patients was markedly decreased (FCR for LDL 0.268 +/- 0.072 pools/day) in comparison to the control subjects (P = 0.001). The FCR for LDL among all the patients was negatively related to the plasma total cholesterol (r = -0.56, P = 0.01) and LDL cholesterol concentration (r = -0.76, P = 0.0002) and LDL apolipoprotein B concentration (r = -0.48, P = 0.03). In conclusion, the clearance of LDL is decreased in uremic patients on dialysis treatment. This alteration in the LDL metabolism of the uremic patients may contribute to their accelerated atherosclerosis.