Influence of triglycerides on other plasma lipids in middle-aged men intended for hypolipidaemic treatment.

Introduction: The present investigation aimed to evaluate the influence of serum triglycerides (TG) on other plasma lipids in male patients less than 65 years of age intended for hypolipidaemic treatment. Methods: Lipid profiles of a cohort of 412 dyslipidaemic male patients aged 53.4 ± 7.7 years (mean ± standard deviation) were evaluated. Patients were stratified in accordance with their fasting plasma lipid lev- els. They were divided into multiple groups on the basis of serum TG (≥150 or <150 mg/dl) and high-den- sity lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C ≥40 or <40 mg/dl). Results: Patients with TG ≥150 mg/dl had higher total cholesterol and lower HDL-C levels compared with those with TG <150 mg/dl (p=0.005 and p<0.001, respectively). Patients with HDL-C <40 mg/dl had similar total cholesterol levels and higher TG levels compared to those with HDL-C ≥40 mg/dl (p<0.001). In all patients, an inverse correlation between TG and HDL-C was found (r= -0.286, p<0.001). Additionally, HDL-C levels were inversely correlated with the TG concentration in patients with TG <150 mg/dl (r= -0.135, p=0.042) and TG ≥150 mg/dl (r= -0.188, p=0.002). Conclusions: An inverse correlation between TG and HDL-C levels seems to exist in the sampled population, revealing a close link between the metabolic pathways for TG and HDL-C. This inverse correlation appears to persist even in patients with low fasting TG levels.