Moreover, although in many conditions LDL cholesterol and apoB levels increase in parallel (e.g. familial hypercholesterolaemia), in ESRD patients, due to hypertriglyceridemia, malnutrition or metabolic disturbances, LDL-C levels are often phenomenically ‘normal,’ as in our study, yet apoB levels are rather elevated due to its overproduction and this results in the formation of a small, dense form of LDL (pattern B phenotype). This evidence concerns the gene APOB and malnutrition.