Study of serum insulin in atherosclerotic patients with endogenous hypertriglyceridemia (types III and IV hyperlipoproteinemia)

Abstract

Sixteen atherosclerotic patients with Type III and IV hyperlipoproteinemia who were minimally complicated by insulin-influencing factors of overweight, hyperglycemia, grossly abnormal dietary habit, marked hypertriglyceridemia, and secondary chylomicronemia were studied to determine the relationship between insulin and endogenous hypertriglyceridemia. After their hypertriglyceridemia was stabilized by a 60 per cent carbohydrate hydrate diet, they were given oral sucrose and starch tests. During each test, blood glucose, serum immuno-reactive-insulin (IRI), and insulin-like-activity (ILA) were measured at intervals for four hours. Although the mean blood glucose levels of these patients, taken at regular intervals after meals, were not significantly different from those of the normolipemic controls, their mean basal serum IRI and ILA levels and their IRI and ILA responses to oral test meals were found to be markedly elevated above the corresponding values of the healthy normolipemic subjects. The hyperlipidemia (hyperlipoproteinemia) and serum ILA elevations responded promptly to simple-carbohydrate restrictive low calorie diet, while the IRI levels were slowly lowered towards normal.