Evaluation of the intravenous fat tolerance test in chronic renal disease.

The intravenous fat tolerance test (IVFTT) was performed on 17 controls, 25 patients with non dialyzed, non nephrotic chronic renal failure and 32 patients on hemodialysis. The fractional removal rate of triglyceride (K2) from plasma is decreased to the same degree in renal disease whether treated by hemodialysis or not. There was an inverse relationship between K2 and both serum triglyceride and fasting blood sugar, which were significantly increased compared to controls. The IVFTT also separated patients with renal disease and hypertriglyceridemia into two groups. One, where there was a low K2, suggesting that defective clearance of triglyceride was the major etiological factor in the hypertriglyceridemia and two, those patients with a normal K2 value, where other factors appear to be more important.