Atherogenic Subclass Quantitation — Q-LDL (IIIa+b) and Q-LDL (IVb) - LDL-S₃GGE subclass distributions and apoB particle number are used to generate a quantitative volume (mg/dL) measurement of LDL subclasses. Current Berkeley HeartLab research data suggest the potential goal for Q-LDL IIIa and IIIb is +/- 13.0 mg/dL and Q-LDL IVb is +/- 4.0 mg/dL.

Clinical Implications:

Q-LDL can help monitor response to lipid therapies, particularly when pursuing aggressive LDL lowering goals (i.e., <100 mg/dL), allowing:

• More discriminating therapy monitoring when LDL-C or apoB is below 100 mg/dL. These absolute changes are particularly useful at low LDL-C numbers at which point metabolic variations are not well understood.
• Insight into progressive metabolic response to aggressive therapy, both monotherapy and combinatory therapy.

Please note that Q-LDL results cannot be reported if apoB and LDL-S₃GGE tests are not both ordered on the same sample. Download the Atherogenic Subclass Quantitation technical brief for more information and detailed references about Q-LDL methodology and clinical utilization.