Alimentary Lipemia, Postprandial Triglyceride-Rich Lipoproteins, and Common Carotid Intima-Media Thickness in Healthy, Middle-Aged Men

Abstract

Background —Alimentary lipemia has been associated with coronary heart disease and common carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT). This study was designed to investigate the relations of subclasses of postprandial triglyceride-rich lipoproteins (TRLs) with IMT. Methods and Results —Ninety-six healthy 50-year-old men with an apolipoprotein (apo) E3/E3 genotype underwent an oral fat tolerance test and B-mode carotid ultrasound examination. The apo B-48 and apo B-100 contents of each fraction of TRLs were determined as a measure of chylomicron remnant and VLDL particle concentrations. In the fasting state, LDL cholesterol ( P P P P P P Conclusions —These results provide further evidence for postprandial triglyceridemia as an independent risk factor for early atherosclerosis and also suggest that the postprandial triglyceridemia is a better predictor of IMT than particle concentrations of individual TRLs.