Background: The purpose of our study was to compare lipid profile assessed by ultracentrifugation in various types of hyperlipoproteinemia (HLP) in correlation with obesity and hepatic steatosis diagnosed in the ultrasonic examination of the abdominal cavity.
Material/methods: We studied 64 patients (38 women and 26 men with a mean age of 53.5 years) with various types of HLP, divided into two groups: 1) hypercholesterolemia, 2) mixed hyperlipoproteinemia. Lipid profile by ultracentrifugation was performed simultaneously with ultrasonic examination.
Results: Among 33 patients with hypercholesterolaemia, 7 had hepatic steatosis (21.2%), with a mean serum TG concentration significantly higher than in those patients without steatosis. Of the mixed HLP patients, 16 had hepatic steatosis (51.5%), with a mean serum TG level over twice the concentration found in patients without steatosis. We found significantly higher levels of total cholesterol and triglycerides in patients with steatosis than in those without. In the HDL fraction, the cholesterol concentration was lower (38.4 mg/dl) in cases of steatosis than in cases without (48.0 mg/dl).
Conclusions: Patients with steatosis showed features characteristic of insulin resistance syndrome, i.e. higher BMI values, higher mean serum TG, and low HDL cholesterol concentrations. In patients with hypercholesterolemia and hepatic steatosis, increased serum triglycerides are associated with increased TG concentration in the VLDL fraction. Mixed HLP patients with hepatic steatosis have higher TG and cholesterol in the VLDL fraction, and in these cases a significant rise in total TG is observed.