[Role of triglycerides in cardiovascular diseases]

The role of triglycerides in cardiovascular disease is a controversial subject. Despite differences of opinion, present data allow a certain number of conclusions to be drawn. Hyperchylomicronemia is not associated with atherosclerosis, whereas type III hyperlipidemia is very atherogenic. These two abnormalities are, however, rare, and the majority of hypertriglyceridemias are, in practice, associated with increased very low density lipoproteins. Many epidemiological trials do not identify hypertriglyceridemia as an independent risk factor when the cholesterol and, in particular, the HDL cholesterol levels, are taken into consideration. Nevertheless, these results must be interpreted with caution as hypertriglyceridemia represents a very heterogeneous entity which is closely related to many factors which affect coronary risk (hypertension, insulin resistance, sedentarity, and even tobacco consumption). Therefore, hypertriglyceridemia and hypo-HDL-emia may be the result of the same primary abnormality; as the HDL-cholesterol level is more stable, it is the parameter which will be identified as a protective factor in epidemiological trials. The available data is insufficient to affirm that therapeutic lowering of triglycerides is accompanied by a reduced coronary risk because none of the large scale trials were designed to analyse this problem. Despite these epidemiological data, the measurement of serum triglyceride levels remains important in patients with hyperlipidemia.