Apolipoprotein E (apoE) in high density lipoprotein (HDL) fraction (HDL-fr) was determined by the immunofixation method and turbidimetric immunoassay (TIA) after precipitation with phosphotungstic acid/MgCl
2 in normolipidemic control subjects and patients with type IV hyperlipemia and hyper HDL-cholesterolemia. Immunofixation assay revealed two major bands of apoE in whole serum : one in the α-area and the other in the preβ-al-ea. ApoE in α-area (α-apoE) was identical to α-apoE in HDL-fr separated by ultracentrifugation but not to α-apoE in HDL-fr separated by precipitation (pHDL-fr). α-ApoE in pHDL-fr lacked the slower area of the band. Agarose column chromatography and gradient gel electrophoresis indicated that α-apoE belongs to early fractionated HDL, and that the precipitatable α-ApoE belongs to the higher molecular size HDL. α-ApoE (%) estimated by immunofixation showed a strong positive correlation with apoE (%) in pHDL-fr. ApoE (%) in pHDL-fr was higher in case of hyper HDL-cholesterolemia and lower in type IV hyperlipemia than in controls, and was inversely correlated with serum triglycerides (TG) and positively with HDL-cholesterol (especially HDL
2-cholesterol) in these subjects. It is suggested that the variation of apoE in pHDL-fr depends on the level of HDL
2. Also, it may be suggested that apoE in pHDL-fr and precipitatable α-apoE belong to low and high molecular HDL
2, respectively, and that apoE content in these particles is correlated with HDL
2.
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