Booklets

Triglyceride-rich lipoproteins and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease

By Professors Borge G. Nordestgaard, Jean-Charles Fruchart and Michel P. Hermans

This booklet provides a critical background to triglyceride-rich lipoproteins and their role in ASCVD, concluding with discussion of the trials – past and present – that have targeted elevated triglycerides to lower residual cardiovascular risk.

Lowering low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) is the primary lipid target to prevent atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) . Yet even at very low LDL-C levels, high-risk patients continue to experience cardiovascular events .

In the search for possible lipid contributors to this high residual cardiovascular risk, attention focuses on atherogenic dyslipidemia, the combination of low plasma concentration of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and elevated triglycerides.