The influence of recruitment training on serum lipid shifts

We followed 930 healthy men who did not alter their habit of smoking cigarettes or ingesting alcohol for 3 months in a recruitment-training course. Lipid profiles were checked on two separate occasions 3 months apart. Smokers had lower high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels then nonsmokers before initiating the recruitment training. The average amount of exercise increased mildly by the evaluation of Borg score (p = 0.0004). There was a statistically significant difference in body weight reduction from 65.3 +/- 11.2 kg to 64.7 +/- 10.1 kg (p < 0.0001). In univariate analysis, there was an 8.7% decrease of the serum level of total cholesterol (TC; from 167.3 +/- 30.8 mg/dL to 152.7 +/- 26.9 mg/dL). There was a 15.2% decrease of the serum level of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (from 104.1 +/- 28.3 mg/dL to 88.2 +/- 22.1 mg/dL). A 13.4% decrease of the serum level of apoprotein B (from 74.7 +/- 22.05 mg/dL to 64.7 +/- 17.0 mg/dL) was also noted. The TC/HDL cholesterol decreased from 1.18 +/- 0.24 to 1.08 +/- 0.24 in natural logarithm scales. All of the declines were statistically significantly different, with p less than 0.0001. The shift of HDL was not statistically significant (from 51.8 +/- 11.5 mg/dL to 52.4 +/- 12.5 mg/dL, p = 0.14). With a multivariate analysis, weight reduction was the most important factor contributing to the cholesterol-lowering effect. With a mild increase of exercise intensity, alcohol demostrated benefits to reduce serum cholesterol levels. Smoking would countervail the cholesterol-lowering benefits of alcohol use. It was evident that the serum levels of TC, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and the apoprotein B levels were increased in alcoholic smokers after exercise, but were decreased in alcoholic nonsmokers.