Plasma apolipoprotein C-III transport in centrally obese men: associations with very low-density lipoprotein apolipoprotein B and high-density lipoprotein apolipoprotein A-I metabolism.

Description

In this original article, Chan et al. developed a compartmental model to examine the kinetics of apolipoprotein (apo) CIII in VLDL and HDL in 39 centrally obese and 12 nonobese men and investigated the associations with VLDL-apo B and HDL-apo AI kinetics. The major finding of this study was that centrally obese men, compared to nonobese men, had significantly elevated VLDL- and HDL-apo CIII levels resulting from increased production of VLDL-apo CIII and reduced catabolism of both VLDL- and HDL-apo CIII. Another novel finding was the positive association between both VLDL- and HDL-apo CIII concentrations and HDL-apo AI hypercatabolism, which was independent of body mass index and insulin resistance. These findings highlight the important role apo CIII plays in regulating triglyceride-rich lipoprotein metabolism and affecting the kinetics of HDL-apo AI in obesity. These results also suggest a possible mechanism by which raised plasma apo CIII levels in abdominal obesity lead to hypertriglyceridemia and low HDL cholesterol levels, thereby contributing to the increased cardiovascular risk in obese subjects.