Clofibrate increases lipoprotein-lipase activity in adipose tissue of hypertriglyceridaemic patients.

Clearance of plasma-triglycerides and activity of lipoprotein lipase in adipose tissue were studied in six hypertriglyceridaemic patients before and after a week of clofibrate therapy (2 g/day). Plasma-triglycerides decreased significantly from 6.85 +/- 1.1 to 2.66 +/- 0.29 mmol/l and triglyceride clearance increased significantly from 1.3 +/- 0.2 to 2.4 +/- 0.4%/min. There were concomitant significant increases in heparin-releasable lipoprotein lipase (95 +/- 16 to 181 +/- 34 nmol free fatty acids/10(6) cells/h) and in extractable lipase (88 +/- 14 to 179 +/- 28 nmol free fatty acids/10(6) cells/h). It is concluded that an important effect of clofibrate may be to increase the levels of adipose-tissue lipoprotein lipase and thereby improve the clearance of plasma-triglycerides.