AIM: To evaluate the effect of hypernatremia on the organization of blood plasma high density lipoproteins (HDL) in goldfi sh; to compare the state of hypernatremia in fi sh and humans; to assess the possible risks and consequences of the effect of hypernatremia on human plasma lipoproteins. METHODS: The fi sh were acclimated for 20 days at a critical salinity of 11.5 g/L; after that the salt water was gradually "desalinated". The concentration of Na + and the content of total water were determined in tissues, cells, and body fl uids. The HDL organization was assessed by the number of apolipoprotein molecules per particle. The methods of fl ame spectrophotometry, electrophoresis and MALDI were used. RESULTS: In fresh water, the state of normonatremia was maintained in the fi sh body; at critical water salinity, the state of hypernatremia. Against the background of hypernatremia, the initial signs of muscle and erythrocyte dehydration appeared in fi sh, the total water content in the plasma did not change, and HDL disintegrated into small particles, which, upon restoration of normonatremia, were combined into the original large forms. CONCLUSION: In goldfi sh at the state of normonatremia, large forms of HDL are stable while at the state of hypernatremia, the small forms of HDL are stable. Under conditions of a hypertonic environment and plasma hypernatremia, the breakdown of HDL prevents the loss of water from the fi sh organism and reduces the threat of their dehydration. Human hypernatremia is characterized by plasma sodium levels comparable to that in goldfi sh, however accompanied by life-threatening metabolic changes. The results of this study may be useful for assessing the risks of HDL breakdown at hypernatremia and for the development of protocols for the treatment of pathological conditions in humans (Fig. 4, Ref. 45).