Nocturnal hypertriglyceridemia and hyperinsulinemia following moderate evening intake of alcohol.

Abstract

ABSTRACT The study was made to determine whether a moderate intake of alcohol in the evening influences the serum triglyceride and plasma insulin levels during the night and in the following morning. Ethanol (1.5 g/kg) was given orally between 5 and 9 p.m. to 34 subjects. The serum triglyceride and plasma insulin levels were followed during the night and the values compared with those taken after a sober evening. The average maximal blood alcohol concentration was 1.1‰ (110 mg/dl). In 24 nor‐molipidemic subjects, alcohol caused a definite nocturnal hypertriglyceridemia and hyperinsulinemia, the mean maximal rise of serum triglyceride being 1.00 mM above the corresponding value for the control night. In most cases the elevated triglyceride levels persisted until 8 a.m. next morning and 25% of the subjects would have been diagnosed as having a type IV hyperlipoproteinemia on the basis of these morning triglyceride values, taken after 11 hours' overnight fast. In 10 patients with primary endogenous hypertriglyceridemia the mean maximal increase of serum triglyceride after ethanol was 3.65 mM and the average morning triglyceride value was still 2.40 mM higher than the corresponding level after a sober evening. There was a highly significant correlation between the serum triglyceride and plasma insulin responses to ethanol (r=+0.58, p<0.001). It is concluded that conventional moderate drinking may be a common cause of hypertriglyceridemia, whether occasional or more constant.