Comparison Between Measuring of Lipid Profile in Fasting and Non-Fasting States: A Cross-Sectional Study from Iraq

Dyslipidemia is one of the important risk factors for cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and is usually determined by measuring lipid profiles in fasting state. Recent researches showed that non-fasting lipid profiles changed minimally in response to food and may be superior to the prediction of CVD.

To evaluate whether there is any change in the measurement of lipid profile in fasting and non-fasting states and its effect on patients’ management.

A cross-sectional observational study was performed from January to November 2017, on 194 patients with an age range of 20 to 78 years, attending Faiha Specialized Diabetes, Endocrine, and Metabolism Center (FDEMC) and Basrah General Hospital. Clinical, demographic and laboratory characteristics of the participants were collected in fasting and non-fasting states.

Both triglycerides (TG) and very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C) were significantly higher when measured in the non-fasting state (P = 0.004, 0.004), with a mean increase in TG by 29.39 ± 60 mg/dL (0.3 ± 0.6 mmol/L), and VLDL-C increase by 5.9 ± 12.3 mg/dL (0.15 ± 0.31 mmol/L). These patterns of changes in TG and VLDL-C were observed mainly in patients aged < 55 years, women, obese patients, non-smokers, diabetics, hypertensive, non-CVD patients, and patients without statins. While total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) did not change significantly.

The study showed that non-fasting measurements of both TG and VLDL were significantly higher compared to the fasting state. A finding that was not present in TC, LDL-C, and HDL-C measurements.