Thirty-three patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) and angiographically documented coronary atherosclerosis were studied for the levels of lipids and apolipoproteins B and A1 (apo-B and apo-A1) in the blood plasma and apo-A1 in the preparations of two major subclasses of high density lipoproteins (HDLP)-HDLP2 and HDLP3. It was established that the apo-B/apo-A1 ratio was statistically higher in the group of CHD patients with clinical signs of atherosclerotic damage to the abdominal portion of the aorta and its branches than in CHD patients without clinical manifestations of disseminated atherosclerosis of the abdominal portion of the aorta and its major branches. This parameter may indicate the presence of a more severe atherosclerotic damage in CHD patients. Moreover, the CHD patients with a more extensive atherosclerotic damage displayed a decrease in the cholesterol load of HDLP3 particles in relation to the weight unit of apo-A1 and also in the amount of apo-A1 in HDLP2 which is suggestive of a weakening of the cholesterol-acceptor properties of HDLP3 and an impairment of their transformation into larger HDLP2 particles which transport cholesterol to the liver.