Atherosclerosis. 2025 Apr 4;405:119186. doi: 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2025.119186. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: Hypertriglyceridaemia (HTG) is an independent risk factor for small fibre neuropathy in patients with type 1, type 2 diabetes, and obesity. This study assessed for evidence of small nerve fibre damage and cardiac autonomic dysfunction in individuals with HTG, without diabetes.
METHODS: Participants with HTG (n=60) and age and sex-matched controls (n=31) underwent assessment of the lipid profile, neuropathic symptoms and disability, corneal confocal microscopy (CCM) and cardiac autonomic nerve function tests.
RESULTS: Triglyceride (TG) concentration was significantly higher [6.0 (3.6-8.7) vs 1.1 (0.7-1.4) mmol/L, p < 0.001], and HDL-C [0.9 (0.7-1.2) vs 1.5 (1.3-1.8) mmol/L, p < 0.001) was lower in the HTG group. The Neuropathy Symptom Profile score [2 (0-5) vs 0, p < 0.001], Neuropathy Disability Score [2 (0-3) vs 0, p < 0.001] and vibration perception threshold [8.9 (5.5-10.5) vs 3.0 (2.0-4.0) volts, p < 0.001] were higher, whilst corneal nerve fibre density (CNFD) [28.9 (5.9) vs 35.1 (7.2) no./mm2, p < 0.001], corneal nerve branch density (CNBD) [50.0 (30.4-66.5) vs 76.1 (56.2-112.5) no./mm2, p < 0.001], corneal nerve fibre length (CNFL) [19.8 (4.8) vs 26.0 (6.2) mm/mm2, p < 0.001], deep breathing heart rate variability (DB-HRV) [18 (13-20) vs 25 (20-30) beats/min, p < 0.001], E-I ratio [1.13 (1.09-1.20) vs 1.25 (1.18-1.31), p < 0.001], valsalva ratio [1.29 (1.18-1.49) vs. 1.47 (1.28-1.59), p = 0.01] and 30-15 ratio [1.24 (1.16-1.36) vs. 1.40 (1.27-1.49), p = 0.002] were lower in the HTG group compared to controls. Serum TG concentration correlated negatively with CCM parameters and cardiac autonomic function tests.
CONCLUSION: HTG, independent of diabetes, is associated with signs and symptoms of neuropathy, small nerve fibre damage and cardiac autonomic dysfunction.
PMID:40367727 | DOI:10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2025.119186