An enzymic and centrifugal method for estimating high-density lipoprotein cholesterol.

Enzymic measurement of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol with a centrifugal analyzer is described. We used polyethylene glycol (Mr 6000), final concentration 100 g/L, to precipitate low-density and very-low-density lipoproteins, thereby eliminating the difficulties of the commonly used heparin/Mn2+ precipitation method and facilitating the use of ethylenediaminetetraacetate-stabilized plasma. As measured by rocket immunoelectrophoresis, this final concentration of polyethylene glycol completely precipitates beta-lipoproteins, leaving the alpha-lipoproteins in solution. Between-run reproducibility (CV) was 3.6%, within-run reproducibility (CV) 0.8%. Reagent costs currently are $US 0.13 per test and large numbers of samples can be handled conveniently. Normal ranges were compiled for 539 men and 444 women. The high-density lipoprotein cholesterol for men was 1.20 +/- 0.31 (SD) mmol/L and for women 1.52 +/- 0.38 (SD) mmol/L.