POSTPRANDIAL ACTIVATION OF COAGULANT FACTOR-VII BY LONG-CHAIN DIETARYFATTY-ACIDS

Factor VII coagulant activity (FVIIc) is associated with an increased risk of fatal ischaemic heart disease (IHD). Several reports have sug gested that dietary fat intake or hypertriglyceridaemia are associated with elevated levels of FVII. This study demonstrates that an intake of long-chain fatty acids sufficient to induce postprandial lipaemia i n healthy subjects leads to a substantial elevation in both FVIIc and the concentration of FVII circulating in the activated form. Such an i ncrease in FVIIc could not be induced by medium-chain triglycerides. T hese results suggest that the consumption of a sufficient amount of lo ng-chain triglycerides to induce postprandial lipaemia induces the act ivation of FVII.