Free fatty acids alter the electrophoretic mobility of serum lipoproteins.

Abstract When normal human serum was analysed after addition of free fatty acids (FFA: oleic acids), the lipoproteins showed abnormal mobility on agarose-gel electrophoresis. β- and α-lipoproteins from the serum with a FFA concentration of 2.04 μEq/ml or more migrated with a mobility showing a more negative charge than native ones. Although the ultracentrifugal profile of the lipoprotein cholesterol was not altered with the excess-FFA, FFA were detected in the lipoprotein fractions as well as in free proteins. The lipoproteins isolated from the excess-FFA aerum also showed abnormal mobility on agarosegel electrophoresis. These results suggest that, in the serum containing excess-FFA, FFA attach themselves to the lipoproteins and alter their charge.