Clinical Information

Apolipoprotein B (ApoB) is the primary protein component of low-density lipoprotein (LDL). LDL contains a variable amount of cholesterol, but each LDL contains exactly one ApoB protein. Therefore, ApoB is a more reliable indicator of circulating LDL compared to LDL cholesterol (LDL-C). ApoB has been demonstrated to perform equally with LDL particles measured by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.(1)

ApoB is strongly associated with increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) and often outperforms LDL-C at predicting risk of coronary heart disease.(2-4) Patients with acceptable non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) or LDL-C but elevated ApoB remain at higher risk of developing CVD; conversely, patients with acceptably low ApoB but moderate non-HDL-C or LDL-C elevations are at a reduced risk for CVD.(5,6)

Finally, in 7 different placebo-controlled randomized clinical trials, on-statin reduction of ApoB was more closely related to CVD risk reduction than non-HDL-C or LDL-C.(7)