Objective-Premature cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in patients with end-stage renal disease treated by hemodialysis (HD). Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels are not generally increased in HD patients, but their LDL metabolism is still poorly understood. We therefore investigated the in vivo metabolism of apoB-containing lipoproteins in two different ethnic populations of HD patients and controls. Methods and Results-We performed stable isotope kinetic studies using a primed constant infusion of deuterated leucine in 12 HD patients and 13 healthy controls. Tracer/tracee ratio of apoB was determined by means of gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, and the modeling program SAAMII was used to estimate the fractional catabolic rate (FCR) of apoB. Mean LDL-apoB plasma concentrations were almost identical in both groups (HD: 95Ϯ30 mg/dL, controls: 91Ϯ40 mg/dL), whereas LDL-apoB FCR was 50% lower in HD patients as compared with controls (0.22Ϯ0.12 days Ϫ1 versus 0.46Ϯ0.20 days Ϫ1 , Pϭ0.001) with concomitantly decreased production rates of LDL. T hirty yeas ago, Lindner and colleagues recognized in their seminal report the excessive risk of cardiovascular disease for hemodialysis (HD) patients. 1 The prevalence and incidence of cardiovascular disease is much higher in HD patients, and current mortality rates are Ϸ10 to 20 times greater than the general population with rates even higher at young ages. 2 A remarkable number of factors, including dyslipoproteinemia, chronic inflammation, hypertension, oxidative stress, elevated homocysteine, and anemia, that may contribute to this increased frequency of atherosclerotic complications have been identified. 3,4 HD patients are characterized by a complex plasma dyslipoproteinemic profile. 5 The most notable quantitative abnormalities are elevated plasma triglyceride and very lowdensity lipoprotein (VLDL) levels with a prevalence of 25% to 75%, 6,7 increased levels of atherogenic intermediate density lipoprotein (IDL) 8 and lipoprotein(a) 9 particles, and decreased high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels. 10 Interestingly, total and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol plasma levels are usually normal or even subnormal in HD patients as compared with healthy controls. 11,12 In addition to quantitative changes in lipoprotein particles, numerous compositional and qualitative lipoprotein changes have been demonstrated as well. These include accumulation of small dense LDL 13 as well as oxidation, glycation, and carbamylation of LDL. The association of small dense LDL Original