Metabolic and clinical aspects of dyslipidemias: An overview

Dyslipidemia has traditionally been defined on the basis of elevated levels of one or more of the circulating plasma lipoproteins. In this review, we have summarized current evidence and hypotheses concerning the well-defined genetic hyperlipidemias. In addition, we have described several dyslipidemias associated with hypertriglyceridemia, decreased HDL and abnormality in lipoprotein particles. Still other dyslipidemias may be due to variants in the structure or metabolism of the apolipoproteins. In the future, such disorders may be referred to as the apolipoproteinopathies. To date, polymorphism studies comparing normal subjects with those having CHD, or comparing the effect of individual apoprotein polymorphisms on lipoprotein concentrations and CHD, have failed to yield consistent results. The advent of the polymerase-chain-reaction technique with DNA amplification currently increases the feasibility of performing haplotype studies in individuals with a strong history of premature CHD. This approach may give further insight into the genetic origin of dyslipidemias, and may allow investigators to establish correlations between haplotype patterns and clinical sequelae.