Comparison of the modified polyacrylamide gradient gel electrophoresis and high-performance liquid chromatography methods in determining LDL size

Abstract

Objectives In this study, we aimed to compare modified Krauss polyacrylamide gradient gel electrophoresis (PAGGE) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) methods in classification, quantification, and separation of lipoproteins and determining low-density lipoprotein (LDL) size. Methods Blood specimens were obtained from eighty-seven volunteers. We measured LDL size using the PAGGE method and HPLC method with total cholesterol (TC) and triglyceride (TG) peaks. In the PAGGE method, Coomassie Brilliant Blue (CBB) staining was used instead of Sudan black staining, unlike the original method. The relationship between PAGGE and HPLC methods was evaluated by Pearson correlation test and Passing-Bablok regression analysis. Agreement between them was evaluated by Kappa analysis and Bland-Altman plots. Results Statistically significant correlation was found between the LDL size with PAGGE and HPLC methods under the cholesterol curve (HPLC-TC) (r=0.924, p<0.001). Similarly, there was a statistically significant correlation between PAGGE and HPLC methods under the TG curve (HPLC-TG) (r=0.910, p<0.001). In the PAGGE method, within-day precision was found as 2\% and between-day precision as 3\%. It was determined agreement between HPLC-TC vs. HPLC-TG methods and HPLC-TG vs. PAGGE methods was higher than HPLC-TC vs. PAGGE (Kappa values0.68, 0.71, and 0.44, respectively). Conclusions The PAGGE method can be a reliable method for measuring LDL size. HPLC method under cholesterol and triglyceride peaks may be used in clinical practice interchangeably, but clinical decision limits should be different. In addition, our study demonstrated that measurement methods for LDL size could be simplified with several modifications.