Factors related to hypertriglyceridemia were analysed for 168 subjects with impaired glucose tolerance, who were discovered at a screening for diabetes mellitus from a population (n=1219) aged 20 to 69. Hypertriglyceridemia≥150mg/dl was observed in 16.1% (n=27) of subjects. In subjects with hypertriglyceridemia, body mass index, serum cholesterol atherogenic index were significantly higher and HDL-cholesterol was sighificantly lower. Heavy drinking was also a related factor. In parameters from 50g OGTT, the concentrations of insulin at all measurement intervals and the free fatty acids concentrations at 30, 60, 120 minutes postload were higher in subjects with hypertriglyceridemia. Blood glucose concentrations had no statistical significance and results were not affected by adjustments for age and sex. Multiple linear regression analysis (stepforward method) was performed with age and sex as co-variates. The sum of insulin concentrations and free fatty acids at 60 minutes postload were independently related to the concentration of triglycerides.
In conclusion, hyperinsulinemia and/or insulin resistance and high concentrations of free fatty acids were found to be related to hypertriglyceridemia. These findings might be explained by impaired clearance due to the low activity of lipoprotein lipase and overproduction of triglyceride from free fatty acids.
