(Circulation. 2005;112:3368-3370.)
© 2005 American Heart Association, Inc.
Editorial |
From the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Tex.
Correspondence to Margo A. Denke, MD, 710 Water Street Suite 604, Kerrville, TX 78028. E-mail mdenke{at}ktc.com
Key Words: Editorials cholesterol lipids lipoproteins patients
| Introduction |
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Article p 3375
The article presents a healthy spara bob and weavebetween apoB and the cholesterol concentrations in apoB-containing lipoproteins. The contenders could be fraternal twins because they are strikingly similar. They may be conjoined, making any competition between parts more akin to self-mutilation. This coveted prize must be earned by more than a simple sparring competition.
| Round 1: Reliability and Reproducibility of Assays |
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3% and
5% (accuracy) with a coefficient of variation (CV)
3% and
4% (precision) with a total error of
8.9% and
13%, respectively.2 Before the mid-1980s, CVs for apoB averaged 30%. The development of standardized methods and suitable reference standards has led to marked improvements in reliability with an average bias of 2.1% (range 5.0 to 3.8%) and an average CV of 2.6% (range 0.9 to 5.1%).3 These appear to be comparable to that expected for non-HDL-C derived from TC and HDL-C measurements.
Round 1 Score: 10:10
Both are reliable measurements.
| Round 2: Biological Variation |
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Round 2 Score: 10:10
Variations in measurement resulting from biological factors including gender and race are minimal.
| Round 3: Availability of Measurements |
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4% for apoB levels >40 mg/dL.
Round 3 Score: 10:7
ApoB measurements would require some effort to be added to every autoanalyzer panel; in-office Clinical Laboratory Improvement Actwaived determinations would not immediately have the capability to quantify apoB. With time, this could be corrected.
| Round 4: Expense |
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Round 4 Score: 6:8
Costs for apoB are less than a lipid profile; the profile, however, contains TG and HDL-C which still add value.
| Round 5: Population Distribution |
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Round 5 Score: 10:8
Far more information is available about the cholesterol content of serum, and specific lipoproteins, than the apoB content. Cutpoints for apoB as a target cannot be readily defined.
| Round 6: Independence of Measurements |
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NHANES III also documents the high correlation between non-HDL-C and apoB of r=0.92.6 Concordance was assessed according to calculated LDL-C cutpoints. An LDL-C <130 corresponded to a mean apoB concentration of 88 mg/dL (95% CI 61 to 116 mg/dL). For LDL-C 130 to 159 mg/dL, the mean apoB was 115 mg/dL (95% CI 94 to 138 mg/dL); for LDL-C 160 to 189 mg/dL, mean apoB was 132 mg/dL (95% CI 112 to 157 mg/dL). Declaring an apoB cutpoint of 107 mg/dL equivalent to an LDL-C
130 mg/dL, apoB had a sensitivity of 82.6% and a specificity of 85.6%; 15.7% of subjects were misclassified. Declaring an apoB cutpoint of 127 mg/dL for an LDL
160 mg/dL, the sensitivity and specificity improved (71.2% and 93.6%, respectively), resulting in a misclassification of only 5.2%.
In the Insulin Resistance Atherosclerosis Study, a special population of 1522 men and women, half of whom had normal glucose tolerance, one third with diabetes, and the remainder with impaired glucose tolerance, 10% of subjects had an apoB >120 mg/dL but did not have elevated LDL-C or non-HDL-C.10 In data from 215 patients undergoing treatment in a Canadian lipid clinic,7 elevated apoB remained in only 4% of the patients who had met their lipid targets.
Round 6 Score: 8:8
No measure is perfect. Misclassification using the NHANES database suggests the present guidelines may be missing 8% of high-risk patients who have high apoB. A similar percentage of hypercholesterolemic patients who do not have apoB elevations would be missed by apoB.
| Round 7: Superior Epidemiological Correlation With Disease |
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The Apolipoprotein-related MOrtality RISk (AMORIS) study measured levels of TC, TG, apoB, and apoA1 in 175 553 Swedish men and women; during the next 5 years 1223 died of myocardial infarctions.12 Other than gender and age, no other risk factor data were collected. AMORIS used trial-derived formulas to estimate LDL-C and HDL-C. Not all of the statistics for primary comparisons were reported. Similar linear graphs for quartiles of apoB and calculated LDL-C are shown; the text states the risk ratio (RR) for apoB increased from the first to the fourth quartile by 2.7 for both men (P<0.0001) and women (P<0.001) as compared with the RR for LDL-C, which increased 3-fold for men (P<0.0001) and just under 2-fold for women (P<0.01). Two models pertinent to this competition were presented. The first enters only calculated LDL-C, showing an RR of 1.4 (95% CI 1.33 to 1.48; P<0.0001) for men and 1.24 (95% CI 1.12 to 1.37; P<0.0001) for women. An apoB-only model was not reported; a model considering both apoB and calculated LDL-C found that men had RR of 1.22 (95% CI 1.17 to 1.51 P<0.0001) and 1.14 (95% CI 1.01 to 1.28; P=0.032) and women had RR of 1.53 (95% CI 1.25 to 1.88; P<0.0001) and 0.85 (95% CI 0.69 to 1.05; P=0.139). ApoB markedly attenuated the risk attributable to LDL; consideration for how much the predictive power of non-HDL-C would be attenuated was not included.
In the Atherosclerosis Risk In Communities (ARIC) study,13 725 CHD events were observed at the 10-year follow-up of 12 339 men and women. LDL-C and apoB were associated with a similar top quintile RR of 2.4 and 2.5 in men and 2.7 and 2.8 in women. ApoB measurements did not contribute to risk prediction in subgroups with elevated TG, lower LDL-C, or high apoB relative to LDL-C.
In the Northwick Park Heart Study, 2508 men ages 50 to 61 residing in the United Kingdom were studied for 5 years; 163 fatal and nonfatal coronary events were observed.14 TG, TC, calculated LDL-C, and apoB all provided similar RRs for disease prediction, with univariate RRs for an LDL-C of 2.67 (95% CI 1.62 to 4.41; P<0.0005) and apoB of 2.90 (95% CI 1.82 to 4.64; P<0.005). Non-HDL-C was not evaluated. In multivariate analyses, the better predictors of risk included the combination of apoB and HDL-C (RR 8.38, 95% CI 3.21 to 21.92) or apoB and TG (RR 4.05, 95% CI 1.57 to 6.23).
In the Québec Cardiovascular study, 2155 men ages 45 to 76 were studied for 5 years15; 116 fatal and nonfatal coronary events were observed. Measurements of TC, TG, HDL, apoB, and apoA1 were made; LDL-C was calculated. The analysis was limited with regard to the direct comparison of apoB and LDL-C and the statistical issues of colinearity. In the multivariate analyses reported, apoB had an RR of 1.44 (95% CI 1.22 to 1.67) and TC had an RR of 1.46 (1.23 to 1.74). The RR for LDL-C was not reported, and non-HDL-C calculations were not performed.
Round 7 Score: 10:8
The cholesterol content of serum or particles continues to predict disease in all datasets. ApoB did not consistently add to the prediction.
| Round 8: Superior Prediction of Disease From Randomized Clinical Trials of Cholesterol-Lowering Therapies |
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Round 8 Score: 5:6
This is a new area of post hoc data analysis. The AFCAPS/TexCAPS data are impressive. Better statistical methods and the addition of this analysis to more trial data are needed.
| Round 9: Conjecture About the Role of ApoB in National Cholesterol Education Program IV |
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Round 9 Score: KO of ApoB
The guidelines are named for cholesterol. Extensive campaigns to educate health professionals and the public have taken place since the 1980s. Obliterating the cholesterol measurement, as proposed by Pischon et al, would create confusion.
| After the Fight |
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While you muse over the next apoB competition, have a look in the locker room for high-sensitivity C-reactive protein. Care to watch another fight?
| Footnotes |
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| References |
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2. National Reference System for Cholesterol. Cholesterol Reference Method Laboratory Network. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/labstandards/pdf/crmln/RevisedTCprotocolOct04.pdf; http://www.cdc.gov/labstandards/pdf/crmln/MFRHDLNov2002final.pdf. Accessed November 7, 2005.
3. Marcovina SM, Albers JJ, Kennedy H, Mei JV, Henderson LO, Hannon WH. International Federation of Clinical Chemistry Standardization Project for Measurements of Apolipoproteins A-1 and B: IV. Comparability of apolipoprotein B values by use of international reference material. Clin Chem. 1994; 40: 586592.
4. Marcovina SM, Gaur VP, Albers JJ. Biologic variability of cholesterol, triglycerides, low- and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, lipoprotein (a) and apoprotein A1 and B. Clin Chem. 1997; 40: 574578.
5. Gardner CD, Winkleby MA, Fortman SP. Population frequency distribution of non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey [NHANES III], 19881994). Am J Cardiol. 2000; 86: 299304.[CrossRef][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
6. Bachorik PS, Lovejoy KL, Carroll MD, Johnson CL. Apolipoprotein B and A1 distributions in the United States, 19881991: results of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III (NHANES III). Clin Chem. 1997; 43: 23642378.
7. Miremadi S, Sniderman A, Frohlich J. Can measurement of serum apolipoprotein B replace the lipid profile monitoring of patients with lipoprotein disorders? Clin Chem. 2002; 48: 484488.
8. Sniderman AD, Furberg CD, Keech A, Roeters van Lennep J, Frohlich J, Junger I, Walldius G. Apolipoproteins versus lipids as indices of coronary risk and as targets for statin therapy. Lancet. 2003; 361: 777780.[CrossRef][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
9. Sniderman AD, StPierre AC, Cantin B, Dagenais GR, Després JP, Lamarche B. Concordance/disconcordance between plasma apolipoprotein B levels and the cholesterol indexes of atherosclerotic risk. Am J Cardiol. 2003; 91: 11731177.[CrossRef][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
10. Sattar N, Williams K, Sniderman AD, Agostino RD, Haffner SM. Comparison of the associations of apolipoprotein B and nonhigh-density lipoprotein cholesterol with other cardiovascular risk factors in patients with the metabolic syndrome in the Insulin Resistance Atherosclerosis Study. Circulation. 2004; 110: 26872693.
11. Shai I, Rimm EB, Hankinson SE, Curhan G, Manson JE, Rifai N, Stampfer MJ, Ma J. Multivariate assessment of lipid parameters as predictors of coronary heart disease amount postmenopausal women: potential implications for clinical guidelines. Circulation. 2004; 110: 28242830.
12. Walldius G, Junger I, Holde I, Aastveit AH, Kolar W, Steiner E. High apolipoprotein B, low apolipoprotein A-I, and improvement in the prediction of fatal myocardial infarction (AMORIS study): a prospective study. Lancet. 2001; 358: 20262033.[CrossRef][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
13. Sharrett AR, Ballantyne CM, Coady SA, Heiss G, Sorlie PD, Catellier D, Patsch W. Coronary heart disease prediction from lipoprotein cholesterol levels, triglycerides, lipoprotein(a), apolipoproteins A-1 and B, and HDL density subfractions: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study. Circulation. 2001; 104: 11081113.
14. Talmud PJ, Hawe E, Miller GJ, Humphries SE. Nonfasting apolipoprotein B and triglyceride levels as a useful predictor of coronary heart disease risk in middle-aged UK men. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2002; 22: 19181923.
15. Lamarche B, Moorjani S, Lupien PJ, Cantin B, Bernard PM, Dagenais GR, Despres JP. Apolipoprotein A-1 and B levels and the risk of ischemic heart disease during a five-year followup of men in the Québec Cardiovascular Study. Circulation. 1996; 94: 273278.
16. Ballantyne CM, Andrews TC, Hsia JA, Kramer JH, Shear C; ACCESS Study Group. Correlation of nonhigh-density lipoprotein cholesterol with apolipoprotein B: effect of 5 hydroxymethylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitors on nonhigh density lipoprotein levels. Am J Cardiol. 2001; 88: 265269.[CrossRef][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
17. Gotto AM, Whitney E, Stein EA, Shapiro DR, Clearfield M, Weis S, Jou JY, Langendörfer A, Beere PA, Watson DJ, Downs JR, de Cani JS. Relation between baseline and on-treatment lipid parameters and first acute major coronary events in the Air Force/Texas Coronary Atherosclerosis Prevention Study (AFCAPS/TexCAPS). Circulation. 2000; 101: 477486.
18. Simes RJ, Marschner IC, Hunt D, Colquhoun D, Sullivan D, Stewart RH, Hague W, Keech A, Thompson P, White H, Shaw J, Tonkin A; LIPID Study Investigators. Relationship between lipid levels and clinical outcomes in the Long-term Intervention with Pravastatin in Ischemic Disease (LIPID) trial. Circulation. 2002; 105: 11621169.
19. Sniderman AD. Applying apoB to the diagnosis and therapy of the atherogenic dyslipoproteinemias: a clinical diagnostic algorithm. Curr Opin Lipidol. 2004; 15: 433438.[CrossRef][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
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