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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2021 Aug 11.
Published in final edited form as: Adv Drug Deliv Rev. 2020 Aug 11;159:377–390. doi: 10.1016/j.addr.2020.08.003

Table 1.

Physical characteristics of lipoproteins.

Lipoprotein subclass Density (g/cm3) Size (nm) Enriche d apo Origin Primary function Major lipids Ref
Chylomicrons < 0.950 80-1000 apoB-48, apoC-II, apoA-I, apoA-II, apoA-IV, apoE Intestines Transport of dietary triglycerides to non-hepatic tissues Triglycerides [3, 10, 3]
VLDL 0.930-1.006 30-80 apoB-100, apoC, apoE Liver, intestines Transport of endogenous triglycerides to non-hepatic tissues Triglycerides [3, 26]
IDL 1.006-1.019 ~25 apoB-100, apoC, apoE Catabolism of VLDL Intermediate of VLDL and LDL Cholesterol [3, 26]
LDL 1.019-1.063 ~20 apoB-100 Catabolism of IDL Transport of the majority of cholesterol to non-hepatic tissues Cholesterol [3, 27]
HDL 1.063-1.210 5–10 apoA-I, apoA-II, apoC, apoE Liver, intestines, other Transport of cholesterol from non-hepatic tissues to the liver Cholesterol, phospholipids [3]

Apo, apolipoprotein; HDL, high-density lipoprotein; IDL, intermediate-density lipoprotein; LDL, low-density lipoprotein; Ref, reference; VLDL, very low-density lipoprotein.