Relationship between Plasma Triglycerides and Removal of Chylomicrons*

Abstract

The relationships between the intensity of an alimentary lipemia, the rate of removal of chylomicrons from the blood, and the fasting plasma triglyceride concentration were studied in 8 patients with coronary heart disease and in 4 control subjects. Human lymph chylomicrons, isotopically labeled in vivo, were administered intravenously. The rate of removal from the blood was inversely related to the fasting plasma triglyceride concentration, and the correlation was highly significant. The peak and 7-hour plasma triglyceride concentrations after the ingestion of a 70-g fat meal were directly and significantly related to the fasting triglyceride levels. The increments in plasma triglyceride concentration after these meals were significantly related to the t1/2 of removal of intravenously administered lymph chylomicrons. These findings apply equally to patients with and without coronary heart disease. The author concludes that the intensity of an alimentary lipemia is related to the size of the liver-plasma pool of triglyceride, which determines the rate of removal of chylomicrons from the blood. The greater size of this triglyceride pool in patients with coronary heart disease is probably responsible for the intense alimentary lipemia that these patients frequently develop.