Statin use, but not exercise, blunts triglyceride elevation after fat meals

Exercise does not appear to reduce postprandial triglyceridaemia (PPTG) in individuals with hypercholesteraemic metabolic syndrome (MetS) relative to metabolically healthy (MetH) controls, reveals a study. However, chronic statin medication moderates the elevations in triglyceride after a meal (ie, incremental are under the curve of PPTG), reducing the cardiovascular risk associated with atherogenic dyslipidaemia.

“Statin decreases PPTG by reducing the secretion or accelerating the catabolism of intestinal Apo B48,” the authors explained.

The authors compared eight hypercholesteraemic (blood cholesterol, 182±38 mg dL⁻¹; low-density lipoprotein cholesterol [LDL-C], 102±32 mg dL⁻¹) and overweight (body mass index [BMI], 30±4 kg m⁻²) individuals with MetS to a group of eight MetH controls (blood cholesterol, 149±23 mg dL⁻¹; LDL‐C 77±23 mg dL⁻¹; and BMI, 23±2 kg m⁻²).

Each group underwent two PPTG tests, either 14 hours after a bout of intense exercise or without previous exercise. In addition, individuals with MetS were tested 96 hours after withdrawal of their habitual statin medication to study medication effects.

A bout of exercise prior to the test meal did not reduce PPTG in MetS individuals (p=0.347); however, it reduced PPTG by 46 percent in MetH controls (413±267 to 224±142 mg dL⁻¹ for 5 h incremental area under the curve; p=0.02).

In both trials (either after a about of intense exercise or without previous exercise), statin withdrawal in individuals with MetS led to a significant increase in PPTG (average, 65 percent; p<0.01), mean LDL-C (average, 25 percent; p<0.01), total cholesterol (average, 16 percent; p<0.01), and apolipoprotein (Apo) B48 (24 percent; p<0.01), with no interference from exercise. However, statin withdrawal did not affect Apo B100.