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Reduced plasma HDL cholesterol concentration has been associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease. However, a low HDL cholesterol concentration is usually not observed as an isolated disorder because this condition is often accompanied by additional metabolic alterations. The objective of this study was to document the relevance of assessing HDL particle size as another feature of the atherogenic dyslipidemia found among subjects with visceral obesity and insulin resistance. For that purpose, an average HDL particle size was computed by calculating an integrated HDL particle size using nondenaturing 4-30% gradient gel electrophoresis. Potential associations between this average HDL particle size versus morphometric and metabolic features of visceral obesity were examined in a sample of 238 men. Results of this study indicated that HDL particle size was a significant correlate of several features of an atherogenic dyslipidemic profile such as increased plasma TG, decreased HDL cholesterol, high apolipoprotein B, elevated cholesterol/HDL cholesterol ratio, and small LDL particles as well as increased levels of visceral adipose tissue (AT) (0.33 < or = absolute value of r < or = 0.61, P < 0.0001). Thus, men with large HDL particles had a more favorable plasma lipoprotein-lipid profile compared with those with smaller HDL particles. Furthermore, men with large HDL particles were also characterized by reduced overall adiposity and lower levels of visceral AT as well as reduced insulinemic-glycemic responses to an oral glucose load.In conclusion, small HDL particle size appears to represent another feature of the high TG- low HDL cholesterol dyslipidemia found in viscerally obese subjects characterized by hyperinsulinemia.

Low plasma levels of HDL cholesterol have been associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease. HDL particles are heterogeneous with respect to size and apolipoprotein content. The objective of the present study was to develop a method to generate lipid-stainable calibrators that would allow the assessment of HDL particle size from whole plasma, using polyacrylamide gradient gel electrophoresis (PAGGE). Lipid-stainable HDL calibrators were obtained by subjecting isolated red blood cells to hemolysis either by freezing at -20 or -80 degrees C overnight or by rapid exposure to liquid nitrogen and mixing of the hemolysis products with plasma aliquots. All three methods were highly reproducible in producing Sudan black lipid-stainable HDL calibrators ranging from 75 to 200 A. The assessment of HDL particle size with these lipid-stainable HDL calibrators was also highly reproducible, with a coefficient of variation below 5.5%. These lipid-stainable HDL calibrators simplify the assessment of HDL particle size by PAGGE using whole plasma, without the need for costly, time-consuming ultracentrifugation procedures.

This study examined the postprandial lipemia of two groups of men displaying similar age, body weight, and regional fat distribution, but characterized by either low (n = 11) or high (n = 15) alpha(2)-adrenergic sensitivity of subcutaneous abdominal adipocytes. In addition to fat cell lipolysis, adipose tissue lipoprotein lipase (AT-LPL) as well as postheparin plasma LPL activities were measured in the fasting state. Fasting AT-LPL and PH-LPL activities were similar in both groups. Maximal adipose cell lipolysis induced by isoproterenol (beta-adrenergic agonist) as well as the beta-adrenergic sensitivity did not differ between both groups of men. The selective alpha(2)-adrenergic agonist UK-14304 promoted a similar antilipolytic response in subcutaneous abdominal adipocytes from both groups. However, the alpha(2)-adrenergic sensitivity, defined as the dose of UK-14304 that produced half-maximal inhibition of lipolysis (IC(50)), was significantly different between groups (P < 0.0001). Men with low versus high subcutaneous abdominal fat cell alpha(2)-adrenergic sensitivity showed higher fasting TG levels. In the whole group, a positive relationship was observed between log-transformed IC(50) UK-14304 values of subcutaneous adipocytes and fasting TG levels (r = 0.39, P < 0.05), suggesting that a low abdominal adipose cell alpha(2)-adrenergic sensitivity is associated with high TG levels. After the consumption of a high-fat meal, subjects with low subcutaneous abdominal adipose cell alpha(2)-adrenergic sensitivity showed higher TG levels in total, medium, and small triglyceride-rich lipoprotein (TRL) fractions at 0- to 6-h time points than men with high adipocyte alpha(2)-adrenergic sensitivity (P values ranging from 0.01 to 0.05). Stepwise regression analysis showed that the fasting TG concentration was the only variable retained as a significant predictor of the area under the curve of TG levels in total TRL fractions (73% of variance) among independent variables such as body weight, percent body fat, visceral and subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue accumulation measured by CT, as well as subcutaneous abdominal fat cell alpha(2)-adrenoceptor sensitivity.Taken together, these results indicate that a reduced antilipolytic sensitivity of subcutaneous abdominal adipocytes to catecholamines may increase fasting TG levels, which in turn play a role in the etiology of an impaired postprandial TRL clearance in men.