Dietary Treatment of Type V Hyperlipoproteinemia Fails to Normalize Low Levels of High-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol

Excerpt

Recent epidemiologic and experimental data suggest that high-density lipoproteins may protect against the development of atherosclerosis (1, 2). Cross-sectional population studies have shown that plasma triglyceride values are inversely related to high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol values in both normal and hyperlipidemic populations (3). This has led to the suggestion that therapeutic lowering of plasma triglyceride levels would result in elevation of high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol levels. However, in a prospective longitudinal study of subjects with type IV hyperlipoproteinemia, we have shown that hypocaloric diet-induced normalization of plasma triglyceride levels failed to correct their initially low high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol values (4). In contrast, in response to