Clinical relevance of non-fasting and postprandial hypertriglyceridemia and remnant cholesterol

Non-fasting triglycerides are measured at any time within up to 8 h (14 h) after any normal meal, while postprandial triglycerides are measured at a fixed time point within up to 8 h (14 h) of a standardised fat tolerance test. The simplest possible way of evaluating remnant cholesterol is non-fasting/postprandial total cholesterol minus low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol minus high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. Elevated levels of non-fasting/postprandial triglycerides directly correlate with elevated remnant cholesterol. In the general population, 38% of men have non-fasting/postprandial triglycerides > 2mmol/L (>176 mg/dL) while 45% of men have non-fasting/postprandial triglyceride levels of 1-2 mmol/L (89-176 mg/dL); corresponding fractions in women are 20% and 47%. Also, 31% of men have remnant cholesterol levels > 1mmol/L (>39 mg/dL) while 46% of men have remnant cholesterol levels of 0.5-1 mmol/L (19-39 mg/dL); corresponding fractions in women are 15% and 43%. Non-fasting triglycerides ≥5 mmol/L vs.