Abstract-Despite the reported association of lipoprotein responses to a fatty meal with atherosclerosis, little is known about the determinants of these responses. Plasma triglyceride, retinyl palmitate, and apolipoprotein B-48 responses to a standardized fatty meal containing a vitamin A marker were measured in 602 Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study participants. To focus on postprandial responses specifically, which have been reported to be related to atherosclerosis independently of fasting triglycerides, analyses for determinants of postprandial responses were adjusted for fasting triglycerides. Major determinants of fasting triglycerides, namely, diabetes, obesity, other factors related to insulin resistance, and male sex, were not independently associated with postprandial responses. Fasting triglycerides were the strongest predictor of postprandial lipids, but independent of triglycerides, the predictors of postprandial responses were smoking, diet, creatinine, and alcohol. To investigate these associations, we studied participants of the largest published study of atherosclerosis and postprandial lipemia. 1 The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) postprandial lipemia study demonstrated in 602 men and women that asymptomatic carotid atherosclerosis was positively associated with postprandial triglycerides (TGs) independently of coronary risk factors and fasting TGs. 1 Markers of intestinally derived postprandial lipoproteins were also studied, because small studies had previously reported coronary disease associated with the apoB-48/apoB-100 ratio 3 and a retinyl palmitate (RP) marker of these lipoproteins. 4 However, these markers were not associated with carotid atherosclerosis in the present study or a more recent study. 2 Despite a lack of association with intestinally derived lipoproteins, our finding that atherosclerosis was associated with postprandial TGs independently of fasting TGs suggested that lipoprotein characteristics specific to the postprandial state are atherogenic. The large size of the ARIC study is needed to detect the independent determinants of postprandial responses, inasmuch as postprandial responses are closely correlated with fasting TGs: rϭ0.64 for TGs and 0.49 for RP in the ARIC study.