Disturbance of serum lipid metabolism in acute renal failure.

Serial studies of serum lipids were performed on five patients with acute renal failure (ARF) due to five different causes (Of five patients one did not achieve complete recovery.). There were striking alterations in serum lipid levels at the period of oliguria in all patients, characterized by an increase in triglycerides (TG) and an extreme decrease in HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C). These conditions gradually returned to normal as the patients improved. The restoration to normal of the altered lipid levels were preceded by normalization of serum creatinine (S-Cr) and followed by creatinine clearance (Ccr). These fluctuational patterns of the lipid levels in the course of illness were observed similarly in all patients who recovered, despite the difference in the cause of their diseases. Improvement of the lipid metabolism was not observed in the one patient who did not recover. These results suggest that the alteration in lipid metabolism of ARF is due to renal impairment and not related to uremic state per se.