Elevated high density lipoprotein cholesterol and low grade systemic inflammation is associated with increased gut permeability in normoglycemic men.

•Impaired gut barrier function which has been implicated in the origins of metabolic disease, showed a 5-fold variation in a group of healthy men.•It was hypothesised that gut barrier function would be linked to variability in serum LDL-cholesterol, but there was no significant relationship.•In contrast, there was a significant positive associations between gut barrier function, serum lipopolysaccharide, and serum HDL-cholesterol.•Serum lipopolysaccharide, and sCD14 as a marker of immune activation, were both significantly associated with an increased intake of protein.