Serum Triglycerides

Specimen Required

3-5cc Clotted Blood or Serum

Fasting Required

Purpose of the Test

As part of a full lipid profile to assess the risk of developing cardiovascular disease, or to look for an underlying cause for a condition called pancreatitis

When this test is required

Lipid profile, including triglycerides, is commonly tested by your GP when you reach the age of 40, as part of a routine cardiovascular health check. It will also be checked if you are already thought to be at risk of cardiovascular disease for another reason, such as having diabetes, high blood pressure, being a smoker, or being overweight.Due to the link between high triglycerides and pancreatitis, triglyceride concentrations will be checked if you are diagnosed with this condition.

What the Test Detects

This test measures the amount of triglycerides in your blood. Triglycerides are the body’s storage form of fat. Most triglycerides are found in fat (adipose) tissue, but some circulate in the blood to provide fuel for muscles to work. Extra triglycerides are found in the blood after eating a meal — when fat is being sent from the gut to fat tissue for storage. Triglycerides are the ‘saturated’ and ‘unsaturated’ fats you read about on food labels.See MoreSee Less

Preparation for the Test

None. Fasting is not routinely required when checking triglyceride concentration (the guidance on this changed in 2014). However, there may be circumstances when fasting is still required, so follow your doctor’s advice.

Sample Requirements

A blood sample taken from a vein in the arm

Additional Notes

If you are diabetic and your blood glucose concentrations are out of control, triglyceride concentrations will be very high.Triglyceride levels in the blood may change dramatically after a meal. Even fasting levels vary considerably from day to day. Because of the day to day variation modest changes in fasting triglycerides measured on different days are not considered to be unusual or abnormal.There are rare genetic conditions resulting in very high levels of triglyceride from birth resulting in pancreatitis in childhood (lipoprotein lipase deficiency or familial chylomicronaemia syndrome). An RNA treatment is now available for this condition however management is mostly based on very low fat diets.

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