Distribution of serum lipoprotein (a) concentrations in a healthy Turkish population.

Serum lipoprotein (a) [Lp (a)] concentrations are highly skewed in different populations. We measured serum Lp (a) by quantitative enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 248 healthy Turkish subjects (127 male, 121 female). The mean Lp (a) value was 0.21 g/L and values did not differ between the sexes. The Lp (a) frequency distribution showed less skewness than those of Asian and Western populations but it clearly deviated from a Gaussian distribution. Plasma Lp (a) concentration did not correlate significantly with age, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol, apolipoprotein A-1 and B or triglyceride concentration.