Cardiometabolic Risk Related to the Association of hypertriglyceridemia-Low HDLc.

AIMS: High levels of plasma triglycerides (TG) are a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases often associated with anomalies in other lipids or lipoproteins. However, results from randomized trials, suggesting that low high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLc) might not cause cardiovascular disease, as originally thought, have generated renewed interest in increased concentrations of TG. The objective has been to determine the prevalence and factors associated with hypertrigliceridemia (HTG) and with low HDLc.

METHODS: Patients, included in the HTG Registry of the Spanish Association of Atherosclerosis, have been analyzed and anthropometric as well as metabolic data have been collected from them.

RESULTS: 1349 patients have been evaluated. Low HDLc has been found in 60.86% (821). Factors significantly associated with low HDLc and HTG were the female sex, being overweight with an increase in the body mass index, using tobacco, diabetes mellitus, low-alcohol consumption and a low exercise rate. Among them, two types of association may be identified with anthropometric variables (especially in men) and metabolic variables (diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome). No significant differences have been found insofar as the prevalence of cardiovascular illness between both groups.

CONCLUSIONS: HTG - low HDLc association is very frequent and it is related to overweight-obesity and other metabolic disorders such as diabetes mellitus with or without metabolic syndrome. In addition, these findings underscore the intricate relationship between HDLc, TG, and glucose metabolism that need to be studied simultaneously. In this context, TG lowering treatment is suggested to be more strongly recommended to address the residual risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.