Final answer:
The lipid result most affected by non-fasting status, leading to a falsely elevated reading, is triglycerides. Triglycerides can spike after meals, distorting the accurate baseline level, thus fasting is recommended before lipid testing to avoid this effect.
Step-by-step explanation:
The lipid result expected to be most falsely elevated on a serum specimen from a non-fasting patient is triglycerides. Triglycerides are fats that are commonly found in the blood, deriving mostly from the diet. Following a meal, especially one high in fat content, the levels of triglycerides in the blood can increase significantly, leading to a temporary spike in their serum concentration. Such a spike would not accurately reflect the patient's baseline triglyceride levels; therefore, fasting is recommended prior to a lipid panel test to measure triglycerides accurately. Serum cholesterol and lipoproteins such as LDL and HDL are less affected by meal intake.
Cholesterol checks usually involve overnight fasting to obtain correct readings, and the presence of chylomicrons in the serum can indicate significant amounts of VLDL, which are associated with triglyceride levels. Moreover, the management of hyperlipoproteinemia often targets lowering triglyceride levels amongst other lipids.