[Glucose tolerance in the course of treating endogenous hypertriglyceridaemia (author's transl)]

Abnormal glucose tolerance was found in 30 of 100 patients with endogenous hypertriglyceridaemia (74 males, 26 females, age 45.9 +/- 11.4 years, Broca index 116 +/- 25%; 44 type II b, 7 type III and 49 type IV hyperlipoproteinaemia). In 19 cases the abnormal glucose tolerance was discovered during treatment with diet and, if necessary, lipid-lowering substances for an average of 5.8 +/- 2.8 years. Compared with the normal population there was in these patients an 8- to 10-fold increase in the incidence of abnormal glucose tolerance. Therapy-induced lowering of the serum triglyceride concentration was followed by an improvement of the abnormal glucose tolerance. The "antidiabetic" effect of hyperlipidaemia treatment was only slightly improved by concurrent weight reduction. These results indicate that the treatment of hyperlipidaemia in patients with endogenous hypertriglyceridaemia is of importance in the prevention of diabetes.