A More Atherogenic Lipoprotein Status Is Present in Adults With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Than in Those Without With Equivalent Degrees of Hypertriglyceridemia.

OBJECTIVES: The impact of type 2 diabetes (T2DM) on biomarkers denoting lipoprotein compositional status was studied in mild and moderate hypertriglyceridemia (HTG). Diabetic dyslipidemia pathophysiology could contribute to differences in lipoprotein compositional status, which could be reflected in the preferred cardiovascular disease risk prediction markers in HTG: non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDLC) and apolipoprotein B (apoB). METHODS: A total of 2,775 fasting lipid profiles from a tertiary care lipid clinic were analyzed as 2 subgroups (with and without T2DM), stratified by triglyceride (TG) levels: normotriglyceridemia (TG 0.01 to 1.7 mmol/L), mild HTG (TG 1.71 to 5 mmol/L) and moderate HTG (TG 5.01 to 10 mmol/L). The mean non-HDLC:apoB ratio in each TG stratum and subgroup was analyzed. We also used linear regression to assess the correlation between non-HDLC and apoB. RESULTS: The mean non-HDLC:apoB ratio was increased in both subgroups in patients with mild and moderate HTG, compared to those with normotriglyceridemia. In moderate HTG, the mean non-HDLC:apoB ratio in the subgroup with T2DM was significantly lower than the subgroup without T2DM. In mild and moderate HTG, the subgroup with T2DM had a stronger correlation between non-HDLC and apoB than did the subgroup without T2DM. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: In mild and moderate HTG, adults with T2DM exhibit lipid profiles that represent a different and more atherogenic lipoprotein compositional status, when compared with adults without T2DM. For the same severity of HTG, the lipoprotein compositional status in diabetic dyslipidemia suggests that there is increased abundance of smaller non-HDL particles and their remnants, which are highly atherogenic.