Factors affecting the concentration of triacylglycerols (triglycerides in plasma: reference values for adults.

Abstract

We studied factors influencing concentrations of triglycerides in the blood of a presumably healthy population of about 9000 persons. Using multi-dimensional analysis, we show, in addition to various related to sex and age, the relation between triglycerides and uric acid, overweight, arterial blood pressure, use of oral contraceptives (in women), consumption of alcohol and tobacco, and lack of physical exercise. These factors were classified as a function of their discriminative power by the statistical method of segmentation. We thus chose the following factors as criteria for exclusion from a reference population for the values of triglycerides in blood: in men 20 to 39 years old, overweight more than 90%; in men 40 to 59 years old, overweight of more than 115%, consumption of more than half a liter of wine per day or of more than 11 cigarettes, use of medicines, and a blood uric acid exceeding 420 mumol/L; in women 20 to 39 years old, contraceptives and overweight; in women 40 to 59 years old, overweight or more than 130% and the intake of medicines. At the 97.5th percentile of the reference population as compared with a non-selected population, the values were 80% less for men 20 to 39 years old, 95% less for men 40 to 59 years old, and only 26 to 30% less for women 20 to 59 years old.

The Role of Genetics in Defining Reference Values and Health Status

“…We started in defining reference values of lipids [4,5], apolipoproteins [6], and lipoprotein particles [7], without taking genetic factors as exclusion on partition criteria.…”

Letter regarding “The usefulness of metabolic score for insulin resistance for the prediction of incident non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in Korean adults”

“…Triglyceride levels can be affected by many factors, including uric acid, overweight, arterial blood pressure, use of oral contraceptives, consumption of alcohol and tobacco, lack of physical exercise, thyroid disease, and medications, such as diuretics, hormones, corticosteroids, and beta blockers. 8 We can easily find patients with NAFLD, and there are patients with abnormally elevated triglycerides or already taking triglycerides lowering agents, which may limit the use of METS-IR. The authors should explain the mechanism for the contradictory results in predicting steatosis and liver fibrosis with the METS-IR index.…”

“…Therefore, if METS-IR is strongly affected by triglycerides, this is a major limitation of the METS-IR index. Triglyceride levels can be affected by many factors, including uric acid, being overweight, arterial blood pressure, use of oral contraceptives, consumption of alcohol and tobacco, lack of physical exercise, thyroid disease, and medications, such as diuretics, hormones, corticosteroids, and beta blockers [ 8 ]. We can easily find patients with NAFLD, and there are patients with abnormally elevated triglycerides or already taking triglycerides lowering agents, which may limit the use of METS-IR.…”

Correspondence on Letter regarding “The usefulness of metabolic score for insulin resistance for the prediction of incident non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in Korean adults”

“…The formula that constitutes METS-IR uses triglyceride levels, which are affected by multiple factors, including arterial blood pressure, alcohol use, carbohydrate intake, and use of medications such as diuretics and oral contraceptives. 6 We adjusted for hypertension, alcohol use, and energy intake because such factors also contribute to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). [7][8][9] However, the lack of information in the Korean Genome and Epidemiological Study dataset about specific medication use could serve as a potential confounder in our study.…”