Apolipoprotein-B: The Crucial Protein of Atherogenic Lipoproteins

This chapter focuses on cholesterol that is transported by apoB-containing lipoproteins, which become pathogenic only after their retention within the arterial wall. The four most commonly used methods to assess the concentrations of these particles in human plasma are total plasma cholesterol, assays of plasma low-density lipoprotein (LDL) itself, the calculation of non-high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, and specific immunoassays for the apoB protein. The chapter covers several aspects of the key protein component, apoB, of atherogenic lipoproteins namely, the regulation of its secretion from liver and intestine, pathways for its healthy removal from the circulation by the liver, and mechanisms for the retention of apoB-lipoproteins within the vessel wall. It uses this extensive knowledge to reclassify epidemiologic risk factors for atherosclerotic cardiovascular events into causative factors, exacerbating factors, and mere bystander phenomena.