Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Hypertriglyceridemia, a cardinal feature of metabolic syndrome (MS), is associated with cardiovascular disease and abnormal metabolism of apolipoproteins which may form the basis for this relationship. The aim of this study is to evaluate triglyceride-rich lipoproteins profile in MS patients.

Material and methods: A retrospective study was performed, including patients evaluated in a tertiary hospital. Patients with thyroid dysfunction, neoplastic disease, HIV, severe hepatic or renal disease, genetic dyslipidemia or under treatment with corticosteroids, fibrates or ezetimibe were excluded. MS was classified using the American Heart Association/National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute definition.

Results: We included 75 patients with MS, mean age 55.05±11.5 years, body mass index (BMI) 29.72±4.5 kg/m², waist circumference (WC) 102.28±10.8 cm, 44% female and 72 patients without MS, mean age 42.74±16.3 years, BMI 25.81±4.5 kg/m², WC 92.24±14.7 cm, 59.7% female. Patients with MS presented significantly elevated levels of triglycerides (200.68±129.5 vs 98.14±46.6 P<0.001) and ApoCII (7.80±4.3 vs 4.88±4.2 P=0.006) and lower levels of ApoA1 (140.80±27.6 vs 165.50±35.1 P<0.001). Only 16.7% of MS patients had ApoCIII levels within normal range, the remaining 83.3% presented elevated levels whereas in patients without MS, only 46.2% had elevated ApoCIII levels (X²=0.001). We found no correlation between ApoCII, ApoCIII or ApoA1 and age, BMI, WC or blood pressure.

Conclusion: Increased apoC-II and ApoCIII and decreased ApoA1 levels are common in the MS phenotype. ApoCIII is thought to have a direct role in atherogenesis, and their elevated levels in MS patients may further aggravate their cardiovascular risk. Understanding ApoC lipoproteins metabolism can contribute to develop new therapeutic targets for MS.