Pauciullo et al. addressed the issue of low-grade inflammation levels in familial combined hyperlipidemia (FCHL) and their role as markers of the disease, independent of body mass index (BMI), insulin resistance, and the components of the metabolic syndrome. In a cohort of 135 subjects with FCHL and 146 controls, the authors found that all inflammatory markers, except interleukin-6 and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, were significantly higher in patients with FCHL than in control subjects. However, when they examined the relationship between inflammatory markers and FCHL, only tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF-a) remained an independent predictor of FCHL [OR=1.19; 95% CI, 1.07-1.31; p=0.001] after adjusting for age, sex, BMI, and homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) index. Even after adjusting for metabolic syndrome components, the independent role of TNF-a was still confirmed. The main finding of this study was that TNF-a concentrations remained significantly and independently related to FCHL status, independent of confounding variables such as the metabolic syndrome.
Documentation centre