Hypertriglyceridemic waist - A marker of the atherogenic metabolic triad (hyperinsulinemia; hyperapolipoprotein B; small, dense LDL) in men?

Background-The present study tested the hypothesis that simple variables, s uch as waist circumference and fasting plasma triglyceride (TC) concentrati ons, could be used as screening tools for the identification of men charact erized by a metabolic triad of nontraditional risk factors (elevated insuli n and apolipoprotein [apo] B and small, dense LDL particles). Methods and Results-Results of the metabolic study (study 1) conducted on 1 85 healthy men indicate that a large proportion (>80%) of men with waist ci rcumference values greater than or equal to 90 cm and with elevated TG leve ls (greater than or equal to 2.0 mmol/L) were characterized by the atheroge nic metabolic triad. Validation of the model in an angiographic study (stud y 2) on a sample of 287 men with and without coronary artery disease (CAD) revealed that only men with both elevated waist and TG levels were at incre ased risk of CAD (odds ratio of 3.6, P<0.03) compared with men with low wai st and TG levels. Conclusions-It is suggested that the simultaneous measurement and interpret ation of waist circumference and fasting TG could be used as inexpensive sc reening tools to identify men characterized by the atherogenic metabolic tr iad (hyperinsulinemia, elevated apo B, small, dense LDL) and at high risk f or CAD.