High blood fat after eating in Burmese cats with lipid issues

Abstract

A proportion of Burmese cats in Australia have an exaggerated post-prandial triglyceride (TG) response after an oral fat tolerance test (OFTT). The aim of this study was to determine (a) whether Burmese cats with presumed lipid aqueous (PLA) had exaggerated post-prandial triglyceridaemia, (b) if Burmese cats with exaggerated post-prandial triglyceridaemia ('affected' cats) had decreased lipoprotein lipase (LPL) activity and (c) whether affected cats were more insulin resistant than normal Burmese cats. Of cats with a history of PLA, 4/5 were shown to be lipid intolerant (4h TG>4.5mmol/l). Four affected Burmese cats were age, gender and body condition matched to four normal Burmese cats. Serum TG, insulin, non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA), lipoprotein and apolipoprotein concentrations were determined 2 weeks after commencing a standardised high-protein diet, with an OFTT performed 4 weeks later. Affected Burmese cats did not have significantly different fasting insulin, fructosamine, NEFA, apolipoprotein or lipoprotein concentrations compared to control cats. During the OFTT, affected cats had significantly higher 4h and 6h serum TG and NEFA concentrations than normal cats. There was a trend for lower LPL activity, higher insulin concentrations (at 4 and 6h) and higher insulin area under the curve (AUC) during the OFTT in affected Burmese cats compared to controls, although these results failed to reach significance, probably due to the small number of cats studied. Further investigations using larger numbers of cats should focus on reduced LPL activity and insulin resistance as potential causes of delayed TG clearance.