Lipoprotein disorders historical perspective

Lipoprotein Disorders Microchapters
Patient Information
Overview
Causes
Classification Hyperlipoproteinemia Hypolipoproteinemia
Treatment

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Rim Halaby, M.D. [2]

Overview

From the early 1950s onward, Fredrickson specialized in the study of plasma lipoproteins, compounds of proteins and lipids which transport lipids in the blood. However, the study of lipids in the blood has started early in the 1900's. In 1949, Faraday Society in Birmingham organized the first symposium on lipoproteins and seperated for the first time lipoproteins into alpha and beta types. More progress on the understanding of the nature and function of lipoprotein continued throughout the years, and in 1970 Fredrickson classified the lipids in the blood as different types of lipoproteins in the famous "Fredrickson classification" which shifted the traditional name of hyperlipidemia into hyperlipoproteinemia. Since then, more and more studies were conducted on lipoproteins which lead to the discovery of lipoprotein receptors, enzymes and genes and the association between the levels of specific lipoprotein levels and cardiovascular risks and mortality.

Historical Perspective

• Shown below is a figurative illustration of a lipoprotein from 1954.

• Shown below is an image depicting the history of lipoproteins. As Fredrickson illustrates with this lecture slide, the knowledge of plasma lipoproteins expanded greatly between the early 1950s, when he first illustrated the nature of plasma lipoproteins (see lecture slide entitled "Figurative illustration of a lipoprotein", from 1954), and the 1990s. He used this slide for the National Institutes of Health's first Donald S. Fredrickson lecture, "Phenotyping: On Reaching Base Camp (1950-1975)," which Fredrickson himself delivered in 1993.