Immunoquantification of total apolipoprotein B in serum by nephelometry: influence of lipase treatment and detergents.

The immunoquantification of total apolipoprotein B in human serum has been evaluated by rate and equilibrium nephelometry. The presence of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins spoiled all immunochemical assays and yielded too-high values for apolipoprotein B. The use of detergents improved the results substantially, but results were inaccurate at high triglyceride concentrations. Of many detergents investigated, only Thesit, Kryo Ebo, and Apovax were useful, decreasing the light-scatter signals almost linearly with increasing detergent concentrations. The regression lines, however, were not parallel among the different apo B-containing lipoproteins. Incubating sera or apo B-containing lipoproteins with bovine milk lipoprotein lipase or bacterial triacylglycerol lipase, at concentrations of 100 kU/L, hydrolyzed all of the triglycerides and most of the phosphatidylcholine within 18 h at 37 degrees C Lipase-pretreatment of samples gave optimal correlation between apo B values as determined by nephelometry with those obtained gravimetrically. We also assessed the influence of sample storage, freezing, and thawing on the nephelometric apo B assays.