An inverse relationship between plasma carnitine and triglycerides in selected Macaca arctoides and Macaca nemistrina fed a low-fat chow diet.

Plasma carnitine and triglycerides were measured in five male Macaca arctoides and one female Macaca nemistrina during the course of feeding a low-fat (5.2% w/w), high carbohydrate diet and a high-fat (15.9% w/w), low carbohydrate diet. For each individual monkey, an inverse relationship was observed between plasma carnitine and triglyceride levels when the low-fat diet was fed but not when the high-fat diet was fed. The mechanism of the different responses to diet was not investigated but may be related to the primary source of the plasma triglycerides (i.e. endogenous origin or exogenous origin) or to differing hormonal effects. A close coupling between carnitine and triglyceride metabolism may be part of a sensitive homeostatic control mechanism that responds to endogenously-synthesized triglyceride.