Studies on the Elimination of Exogenous Plasma Triglyceride in the Subjects with Ischemic Heart Disease

Abstract

Recently, it has been considered that the hypertriglyceridemia may be caused by the impaired TG removal and/or the overproduction of endogenous TG.
For detecting disorder of plasma exogenous TG removal, an intravenous fat tolerance test was performed in 12 cases with ischemic heart disease, 9 cases of hyperlipidemia, 4 cases of cerebral arteriosclerosis, 5 cases of diabetes mellitus and 6 cases of normal controls. After overnight fasting, fat emulsion (Intralipid^®, 0.15g/kg body weight) was injected intravenously, and exogenous TG in blood samples drawn at 10 minutes intervals were measured to obtain K₂ value (fractional removal rate) which was characterized by exponential phase in elimination curve of the plasma exogenous TG.
As results it was found that the statistically reverse correlationship between K₂ values and plasma lipid levels, particularly TG levels, was there. Although plasma cholesterol levels were not in good relation to K₂ values, in hypercholesterolemic patients, even though they had normal TG levels, decreased K₂ values were found.
The average K₂ value in ischemic heart disease was lower than this in the other subjects, also noticed was that some normolipemic subjects with ischemic heart disease and/or obesity had lower K₂ values.
In conclusion, it seems that the impaired plasma TG removal in peripheral vessels may be one of the causes of hypertriglyceridemia i. e. an atherogenetic factor.