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Serum Phospholipid Transfer Protein Activity After a High Fat Meal in Patients with Insulin-Treated Type 2 Diabetes

  • Original Article
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Lipids

Abstract

Plasma phospholipid transfer protein (PLTP) mediates both net transfer and exchange of phospholipids between different lipoproteins. Animal studies have shown that it is closely related to the development of atherosclerosis. Although many studies have indicated that PLTP activity is increased in diabetes mellitus, the role of PLTP in diabetes is still unclear. To evaluate the influence of a high-fat meal on PLTP activity, 50 nondiabetic patients with coronary heart disease (CHD), 50 insulin-treated Type 2 diabetics, and 50 healthy controls were included. We determined PLTP activity before and 4 and 8 h after a high-fat meal. As expected, serum PLTP activity was significantly higher in CHD patients than in healthy controls (71.0 ± 46.2 vs. 54.0 ± 33.8 pmol/μl/h, P = 0.032) at baseline. More importantly, we found that serum PLTP activity increased to its maximum 4 h after fat loading and then decreased to nearly basal levels after 8 h both in controls and CHD patients. In contrast, PLTP activity continuously increased during this time period in the diabetic patients. With regards to the data from this study we hypothesize that serum PLTP is involved in the clearance of postprandial lipoproteins and this process is attenuated in diabetes. Since postprandial lipoproteins are atherogenic, the delay in clearance of these particles could play an important role in the development of atherosclerosis in patients with diabetes mellitus.

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Abbreviations

ACE:

Angiotensin converting enzyme

BLp:

ApoB-containing lipoprotein

CAD:

Coronary artery disease

CHD:

Coronary heart disease

CRP:

C-reactive protein

HDL:

High density lipoprotein

HDL-C:

High density lipoprotein-cholesterol

OGTT:

Oral glucose tolerance test

PLTP:

Phospholipid transfer protein

RLP:

Remnant-like particle

TG:

Triglycerides

VLDL:

Very low density lipoprotein

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Acknowledgments

Part of this study was taken from the thesis of Kirsten Fingscheidt. The study was partially supported by National Institute of Health grant HL69817.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine III, Martin Luther-University, Ernst-Grube-Str 40, 06120, Halle, Germany

    Axel Schlitt, Alexander Vogt, Michael Buerke, Lars Maegdefessel, Uwe Raaz & Karl Werdan

  2. Curschmann-Clinic, Timmendorfer Strand, Germany

    Bernhard Schwaab & Kirsten Fingscheidt

  3. Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany

    Karl J. Lackner

  4. Department of Medicine IV, University of the Saarland, Homburg/Saar, Germany

    Gunnar H. Heine

  5. Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Downstate Medical Center Brooklyn, State University of New York, New York, USA

    Xian-Cheng Jiang

Authors
  1. Axel Schlitt
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  2. Bernhard Schwaab
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  3. Kirsten Fingscheidt
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  4. Karl J. Lackner
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  5. Gunnar H. Heine
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  6. Alexander Vogt
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  7. Michael Buerke
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  8. Lars Maegdefessel
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  11. Xian-Cheng Jiang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Axel Schlitt.

Additional information

A. Schlitt and B. Schwaab contributed equally to the submitted work.

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Schlitt, A., Schwaab, B., Fingscheidt, K. et al. Serum Phospholipid Transfer Protein Activity After a High Fat Meal in Patients with Insulin-Treated Type 2 Diabetes. Lipids 45, 129–135 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11745-010-3384-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11745-010-3384-5

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