Positive Health Online

Abstract

YAMAGUCHI and co-authors, Mukogawa Women's University, 11-68 Koshien Kyuban-cho, Nishinomiya 663-8179, Japan, yusan@mwu.mukogawa-u.ac.jp, have studied chemical changes of low-density lipoprotein in cigarette smokers.

Background

Cigarette smoking increases the risk of developing atherosclerosis and ischaemic heart disease. Smoking-induced oxidative stress is thought to promote oxidation of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and subsequently promote the process by which arteries get damaged. The aim of this study was to investigate whether peroxynitrite, a reaction product of cigarette smoke, is involved in facilitated oxidation of LDL in smokers.

Methodology

10 healthy asymptomatic cigarette smokers and 10 healthy nonsmokers donated blood from which LDL was isolated. The LDL obtained in this way was chemically analyzed.

Results

Smokers showed a significantly higher level of markers of oxidative stress as well as a significantly lower level of vitamin E than nonsmokers, even after not smoking for 10 hours or more. The chemical analysis demonstrated an increase in oxidatively modified LDL. A nitrated form of LDL was significantly enriched in smokers. In addition, the changes observed in smokers were accelerated within 30 min of their lighting up again after a period of abstinence when compared with the levels before smoking resumption.

Conclusion

This study suggests that peroxynitrite plays a significant role in oxidative modification of plasma LDL induced by cigarette smoking.

References

Yamaguchi Y, Haginaka J, Morimoto S, Fujioka Y. Kunitomo M. Facilitated nitration and oxidation of LDL in cigarette smokers. European Journal of Clinical Investigation 35 (3): 186-193, Mar 2005.

Comment

This study sheds light on some of the mechanisms of the destructiveness of cigarette smoking upon heart disease.