A specific method for the direct determination of lipoprotein cholesterol in electrophoretic patterns.

Lipoproteins are separated electrophoretically and cholesterol is visualised with an enzymic reagent specific for cholesterol in which the gels are incubated. Quantitation of the individual fractions is accomplished by scanning densitometry. No sample pretreatment is necessary. All major fractions are detected readily. Accuracy agrees favorably with results from the ultracentrifugation. On the average, imprecision is 3.1% for beta-, 6.9% for prebeta-, and 5.2% for alpha-lipoprotein cholesterol. Concentration and color development are linear up to 8 mmol/l cholesterol in a given lipoprotein fraction. The results of the direct enzymic procedure for beta-, prebeta- and alpha-lipoprotein cholesterol are compared to the quantitative lipoprotein electrophoresis after precipitation with phosphotungstic acid and bivalent cations.