Serum Lipids and Conjunctival Circulation after Fat Ingestion in Men Exhibiting Type-A Behavior Pattern

Abstract

A group of 12 subjects exhibiting a behavior pattern A, associated with a high incidence of clinical coronary artery disease, and a second group of subjects exhibiting a converse type of behavior pattern B, were fed a standard fat meal, before and after which studies were made of serum lipid and cholesterol changes. In addition, studies were made of their bulbar conjunctival vasculature. It was found that the average fasting serum triglyceride, cholesterol, and phospholipid values of the "A" subjects were significantly greater than those of the "B" subjects. Following the meal, the average serum triglyceride rose much higher and remained relatively much higher and longer in subjects with pattern A than in those with pattern B. The serum free fatty acid content was essentially the same in both groups, both before and after the meal. The observed differences in serum triglyceride behavior did not appear to be due to differences in the circulating phase of the heparininduced lipoprotein-lipase system. Following the meal, marked sludging and capillary ischemia were found in the conjunctival tissue of 10 or 12 subjects with pattern A and in only three of the 12 subjects with pattern B.