Lack of correlation between serum lipoproteins and biliary cholesterol saturation in patients with gallstones.

It has been suggested that elevated serum lipoprotein cholesterol levels may be a determinant of biliary cholesterol saturation and cholesterol gallstone disease. The aim of this study was to correlate serum lipoprotein cholesterol and apolipoprotein levels with biliary cholesterol saturation in patients with gallstones who participated in the National Cooperative Gallstone Study. Baseline serum lipoprotein and biliary lipid levels were studied in 181 of these patients before they received treatment for dissolution of their gallstones. Neither low- or high-density lipoprotein cholesterol nor apolipoprotein levels correlated with biliary cholesterol saturation. This study, therefore, does not support the concept that serum lipoproteins are a determinant of biliary cholesterol saturation. It is possible, however, that a significant effect of lipoprotein levels is obscured by the greater effects of more important determinants of biliary cholesterol saturation.