Serum cholesterol falls spontaneously in nephrotic patients with progressive renal disease.

Total cholesterol (TC) levels were lower than expected in some patients with advanced renal disease and nephrotic-range proteinuria. Studies of 35 clinically stable nonuremic patients and of 12 nephrotic patients with advancing renal failure were therefore performed. Analysis of pooled biochemical data from 35 patients who were hypercholesterolemic on entry to the clinic revealed a positive correlation between TC and reciprocal creatinine (l/Cr) while serum albumin (ALB) was negatively correlated with l/Cr and TC. In the 12 nephrotic patients with negative reciprocal creatinine slopes there was a strong correlation between the slopes of l/Cr and TC. These data suggest that plasma cholesterol falls in the nephrotic hypercholesterolemic patients in whom renal disease progresses, and that the slopes of plasma cholesterol and reciprocal creatinine are closely related.