Serum lipids and lipoproteins in healthy Africans.

Using a simple precipitation technique we observed that the serum concentrations of low density lipoproteins in healthy Africans were less than half the serum concentrations in healthy Europeans. Serum concentrations of lipids and the lipoproteins varied according to the social class of Africans. Serum triglyceride concentrations did not rise with adult age but serum cholesterol concentrations did. Contrary to the findings in Europeans, the proportion of alpha lipoprotein fraction on serum electrophoresis in the Africans was relatively higher than that of beta lipoprotein fraction.