CETP and LCAT Activities are Unrelated to Smoking and Moderate Alcohol Consumption in Healthy Normolipidemic Men

Abstract

To distinguish between the effects of smoking and drinking on lipid metabolism, we conducted a cross-sectional study using 52 healthy normolipidemic subjects who either smoked or drank, but not both. The subjects were divided into three groups: Group S, smokers who did not drink (n=20); Group D, drinkers who did not smoke (n=12); and Group C, controls (n=20), who neither drank nor smoked. High density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels and plasma cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) and lecithin:cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) activities were measured in all of the subjects, and the values obtained in Group S and Group D were compared to those of controls. Group S had lower (p<0.01) HDL2-C and HDL3-C levels, and Group D had higher (p<0.05) HDL2-C and HDL3-C levels than the controls, but there were no significant differences between groups with respect to CETP and LCAT activities. Thus, in healthy normolipidemic men, both smoking and drinking affect HDL-C levels as expected, but do not affect plasma CETP or LCAT activity levels. © 1995, The Japanese Circulation Society. All rights reserved.