Dialysis hyperlipemia: response to dietary manipulations.

The effects of dietary manipulations on plasma lipid concentrations were studied over a 3 month period in 8 stable uremic patients on dialysis. Each of the 4 diets was of 3 weeks' duration, and consisted of the following periods: Control (regular diet), high carbohydrate (60% of total calories ingested), control, and a low carbohydrate diet (20% of total calories ingested). The patients' weight remained stable throughout the study. A 33% reduction in plasma triglyceride concentration was observed during the low carbohydrate period (P less than 0.05, paired analysis), and a 33% increase above control values was observed during the high carbohydrate period (P less than 0.05, paired analysis). Cholesterol concentrations did not vary and remained within normal limits throughout the study. There was no significant correlation observed between either insulin or glucagon levels and variations in triglyceride concentration. Reduction in the proportion of carbohydrate in the diet of dialysis patients, may be an effective long-term therapeutic approach to their hypertriglyceridemia.