Effect of fibrates on postprandial remnant-like particles in patients with combined hyperlipidemia

We have investigated the effect of standard doses of two fibrates, gemfibrozil and fenofibrate, on fasting and postprandial remnant-like particles (RLP) in subjects with combined hyperlipidemia. Forty-eight subjects participated; of these, 14 underwent a Vitamin A-fat loading test before and after 6 months of treatment with gemfibrozil (n=8) and fenofibrate (n=6). Blood was drawn every 2 h for 12 h after the test meal. The postprandial response was calculated as the area under the curve (AUC). There was no difference in fasting levels and pre-treatment AUC for triglycerides (TG), RLP cholesterol (RLP-C), RLP triglycerides (RLP-TG) and retinyl palmitate (RetP) between the two treatment groups. There was also no difference in the treatment effect on all parameters between the two treatment groups. Combining the two treatment groups, treatment resulted in a significant reduction in fasting levels and AUC of all four parameters. Assigning the difference observed between pre-treatment AUC of the combined study group and AUC of a normolipidemic (NL) control group as 100%, fibrate treatment resulted in decreases in AUC for TG, RLP-C, RLP-TG and RetP of 68, 69, 69 and 94%, respectively. These results indicate that fibrates are effective agents in reducing the postprandial increase in remnant lipoprotein particles.