Is cutaneous apoprotein B a better discriminator than serum lipoproteins for atherosclerosis?

Serum lipids, skin apoprotein B (apo B) and skin cholesterol measurements have been investigated in 2 populations: one with normal coronarography, the other with pathological coronarography. Within these 2 populations there were highly significant differences in serum apo B (P less than 0.001), skin cholesterol (P less than 0.01) and skin apo B (P less than 0.001) levels. Skin apo B is a valuable test because its increase is closely related to the coronary heart disease. From these 2 populations, 2 groups with normal serum apo B (less than 1.3 g/l) were selected and compared. No significant differences in the various serum lipids were observed except for triglycerides (P less than 0.05) and serum apo B (P less than 0.05). However, a very significant difference was noticed in the skin apo B (P less than 0.001). With this cutaneous apo B determination it was possible to foresee coronary heart disease in 75% of patients. This test can be therefore considered useful to predict coronary status.