To determine how lipoprotein lipase mass in the pre-heparin plasma is affected by body fat distribution, which is known to be closely related to lipid disorder, either directly or through insulin resistance. A total of 57 subjects consisting of 50 hyperlipidemic and 7 normolipidemic subjects (age 54±lly; 31 men, 26 women; body mass index 24±2.5 kg/m 2; serum total cholesterol 6.4±1.5 mmol/l; triglycerides, 2.4±1.7 mmol/l; HDL-cholesterol 1.3±0.5 mmol/l) were enrolled. We investigated the correlation between pre-heparin plasma LPL mass and intra-abdominal visceral fat area (or subcutaneous fat area) evaluated by computed tomography, and serum lipids and lipoproteins. Pre-heparin plasma LPL mass correlated inversely against intra-abdominal visceral fat area (r=-0.51, p< 0.0001) and body mass index (r=-0.46, p= 0.0003), but did not show any significant correlation with subcutaneous fat area. Pre-heparin plasma LPL mass had a positive correlation with serum high density lipoprotein cholesterol (r= 0.45, p= 0.0004) and a negative correlation against serum triglycerides (r=-0.48, p= 0.0002). Pre-heparin plasma LPL mass is closely associated with intra-abdominal fat distribution, and the measurement of its value gives useful information concerning metabolic disorder.