HDL Cholesterol Assay Kit

Summary:
HDL (High Density Lipoproteins) are responsible for the reverse transport of cholesterol from the peripheral cells to the liver. Here, cholesterol is transformed to bile acids which are secreted into the intestine via the biliary tract. Monitoring of HDL- cholesterol in serum is of clinical importance since an inverse correlation exists between serum HDL- cholesterol concentrations and the risk of atherisclerotic disease. Elevated HDL- cholesterol concentrations are protective against coronary heart disease, while reduced HDL- cholesterol concentrations, particularly in conjunction with elevated triglycerides, increase the cardiovascular risk. A variety of methods are available to determine HDL-cholesterol, including ultracentrifugation, electrophoresis, HPLC, and precipitation-bases methods. Of these precipitation-based methods are used routinely. HDL cholesterol is first separated by precipitating apoprotein B-containing lipoproteins from serum by using a combination of a polyanion and a divalent cation, such as dextran sulfate/magnesium chloride or phosphotungstate/magnesium chloride. Such precipitation -bases method are, however, time consuming and not amenable to automated analysis. Thus, there is a great clinical need for a convenient and reliable method for measuring HDL-cholesterol in serum without any pretreatment. Several approaches for direct measurement of HDL-cholesterol in serum have been proposed, including the use of magnetically responsive particles as polyanionmetal combinations and the use of polyethylene glycol (PEG) with antiapoprotein B and anti-apoprotein CIII antibodies.