Acute influence of smoking on plasma lipoproteins

This study was designed to investigate acute effects of smoking on plasma lipoproteins. Twelve fasting smokers inhaled the smoke of two cigarettes. Blood samples were taken before and 30 min after smoking. Triglycerides decreased in plasma from 136.8 +/- 39.8 to 108.0 +/- 34.9, in VLDL from 79.8 +/- 31.4 to 58.4 +/- 28.5 mg%. Cholesterol fell in HDL3 from 29.9 +/- 5.0 to 26.6 +/- 5.8 mg%. Determination of HDL-cholesterol with the phosphotungstic acid precipitation method revealed a reduction from 45.7 +/- 10.2 to 40.3 +/- 11.1 mg% after smoking. All C-apoproteins decreased in VLDL as an entity. Apoprotein A-I was diminished in plasma from 137.5 +/- 23.1 to 118.2 +/- 25.4, and in HDL3, from 97.1 +/- 12.1 to 85.0 +/- 13.1, apoprotein A-II in plasma from 28.6 +/- 8.9 to 24.7 +/- 6.9 and in HDL3 from 21.1 +/- 8.4 to 17.4 +/- 5.7 mg%. Zonal ultracentrifugation of D less than 1.063 g/ml lipoproteins confirmed the influence of smoking on VLDL. In LDL, an increase in cholesterol esters, mainly cholesterol linoleate, from 57.3 +/- 30.2 to 67.4 +/- 25.9 mg% was observed after smoking. The HDL2 subclass was shifted toward a slightly lighter hydrated density, but the major effect of smoking was seen in HDL3. Total cholesterol decreased from 30.5 +/- 7.3 to 22.3 +/- 6.6 mg%, due to a fall of all major cholesterol esters from 23.7 +/- 7.2 to 15.8 +/- 6.9 mg%. HDL3-phospholipids were reduced from 74.9 +/- 37.0 to 46.0 +/- 23.9 mg%.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)