Comparison between fasting and nonfasting lipid profile in patients receiving treatment with statin therapy

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Objectives The aim of this study was to assess the effect of ordinary meal on the lipid profile of patients receiving statin therapy. Background The lipid profile is an essential investigation for the patient who comes to cardiology outpatient clinic. Numerous guidelines recommend sampling in the fasting state for cardiovascular risk assessment. Fasting for 12–14 h is not only cumbersome and unpleasant for patients, but may result in limited compliance to disease monitoring and treatment. Patients and methods This study was performed on 100 patients with dyslipidemia receiving statin therapy whose doses had not changed for 2 or more months (group I), and 100 patients with dyslipidemia not receiving statin therapy (group II). Lipid profile was determined for fasting and postprandial statuses. Results The lipid profile parameters in both groups in fasting and postprandial statuses were compared. In group I, the mean fasting serum triglyceride level was 176.21 mg/dl and mean postprandial serum triglyceride level was 213.49 mg/dl (P = 0.0001); the mean fasting low-density lipoprotein (LDL) level was 161.19 mg/dl and mean postprandial LDL was 159.25 mg/dl (P = 0.184). In group II, the mean fasting serum triglyceride level was 231.06 mg/dl and mean postprandial triglyceride level was 284.60 mg/dl (P = 0.005); the mean fasting LDL was 185.18 mg/dl and mean postprandial LDL was 181.32 mg/dl (P = 0.871). Conclusion Finally, from this study we found that there is no significant clinical difference between fasting and nonfasting levels of total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein, and LDL. Thus, we can use the nonfasting tests to follow-up the dyslipidemic patients.