The American Journal of Medicine
Volume 86, Issue 4 , Pages 376-378, April 1989

High density lipoprotein cholesterol is reduced in patients with sarcoidosis☆

Departments of Medicine and Biomathematical Sciences, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York USA

Received 13 July 1988; accepted 10 January 1989.

Abstract 

purpose: Sarcoidosis is a disease in which the proliferation of monocyte-macrophage-derived cells is observed. In other disease characterized by expansion of the monocyte-macrophage system, such as Gaucher's disease and myeloid metaplasia, abnormalities in lipoprotein metabolism have been demonstrated. To determine whether similar abnormalities in lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations could be identified in patients with sarcoidosis, we studied total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol as well as triglyceride levels in 52 patients with biopsy-proven sarcoidosis.

patients and methods: Patients had no other medical disorders and were not being treated with corticosteroids or antimalarial agents. Blood samples were collected by venipuncture after an overnight fast. Plasma total cholesterol and triglyceride levels were measured using enzymatic techniques. Lipoprotein cholesterol was quantified by lipoprotein fractionation. HDL cholesterol was measured as cholesterol remaining in the supernatant after precipitation of LDL and very-low-density lipoprotein from whole plasma by the heparin-maganese chloride method. Computation was used to determine the level of LDL cholesterol.

results: We found significantly reduced levels of total cholesterol (183.9 ± 27.6 versus 194.3 ±16.5 mg/dl, means ± SD, p = 0.021) and HDL cholesterol (41.2 ± 13.0 versus 51.9 ± 6.1 mg/dl, p = 0.0001) in sarcoid patients versus an age-, sex-, and racematched reference group. Differences were not observed in triglyceride or LDL cholesterol levels (p >0.05)

conclusion: These findings are similar to those observed in the myeloproliferative diseases, Gaucher's functional role of monocytes-macrophages in the regulation of serum lipoprotein cholesterol levels.

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☆ This work was supported, in part, by Grant RR-71 from the Division of Research Resources. General Clinical Research Center Branch. National Institutes of Health (H. Gilbert, H. Ginsberg, and R. Fagerstrom). The Jack Martin Fund and Grant CA-31656 from the National Institutes of Health (H. Gilbert), Medical Scientist Training Program Grant GM-07280 from the National Institute of Health (J. Almernoff), Grants HL-36000 and HL-21006 from the National Institutes of Health (H. Ginsberg), and The Henry and Catherine Gaisman Foundation (A. Teirstein). This work was reported in preliminary form at the 10th International Conference on Sarcoidosis and Related Disorders. Baltimore, Maryland, September 1984.

PII: 0002-9343(89)90332-X

doi:10.1016/0002-9343(89)90332-X

The American Journal of Medicine
Volume 86, Issue 4 , Pages 376-378, April 1989

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