Lipids in Health and Disease (Sep 2021)

Determinants of the postprandial triglyceride response to a high-fat meal in healthy overweight and obese adults

  • Stephanie M. Wilson,
  • Adam P. Maes,
  • Carl J. Yeoman,
  • Seth T. Walk,
  • Mary P. Miles

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12944-021-01543-4
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 20, no. 1
pp. 1 – 11

Abstract

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Abstract Background Dyslipidemia is a feature of impaired metabolic health in conjunction with impaired glucose metabolism and central obesity. However, the contribution of factors to postprandial lipemia in healthy but metabolically at-risk adults is not well understood. We investigated the collective contribution of several physiologic and lifestyle factors to postprandial triglyceride (TG) response to a high-fat meal in healthy, overweight and obese adults. Methods Overweight and obese adults (n = 35) underwent a high-fat meal challenge with blood sampled at fasting and hourly in the 4-hour postprandial period after a breakfast containing 50 g fat. Incremental area under the curve (iAUC) and postprandial magnitude for TG were calculated and data analyzed using a linear model with physiologic and lifestyle characteristics as explanatory variables. Model reduction was used to assess which explanatory variables contributed most to the postprandial TG response. Results TG responses to a high-fat meal were variable between individuals, with approximately 57 % of participants exceeded the nonfasting threshold for hypertriglyceridemia. Visceral adiposity was the strongest predictor of TG iAUC (β = 0.53, p = 0.01), followed by aerobic exercise frequency (β = 0.31, p = 0.05), insulin resistance based on HOMA-IR (β = 0.30, p = 0.04), and relative exercise intensity at which substrate utilization crossover occurred (β = 0.05, p = 0.04). For postprandial TG magnitude, visceral adiposity was a strong predictor (β = 0.43, p < 0.001) followed by aerobic exercise frequency (β = 0.23, p = 0.01), and exercise intensity for substrate utilization crossover (β = 0.53, p = 0.01). Conclusions Postprandial TG responses to a high-fat meal was partially explained by several physiologic and lifestyle characteristics, including visceral adiposity, insulin resistance, aerobic exercise frequency, and relative substrate utilization crossover during exercise. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04128839 , Registered 16 October 2019 – Retrospectively registered.

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