[Alcohol and plasma lipoproteins in acute and long-term studies]

The influence of ethanol on plasma lipids, lipoproteins and on the activity of lipoprotein lipase (LPL) and hepatic triglyceride lipase (HTGL), the major enzymes in the catabolism of triglyceride rich lipoproteins, was studied in 14 healthy young volunteers who were given 50 g ethanol daily for 4 weeks together with a standardized isocaloric diet. Marked hypertriglyceridemia occurred initially, mainly due to increased VLDL, but chylomicronaemia was also present in all probands. While HTGL activity remained unaltered there was a marked decrease in LPL activity. At the end of the study serum triglycerides and VLDL almost returned to initial levels, while Chylomicronaemia had totally disappeared. Furthermore, there was no atherogenic plasma lipoprotein alteration: LDL were not increased and the possibly antiatherogenic HDL were even significantly increased after the four weeks' study period. Again, HTGL activity remained unchanged but that of LPL reached its maximum after 4 weeks. It is therefore suggested that regular alcohol intake may increase LPL activity and hence may lead to a more rapid catabolism of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins in plasma.