Antibodies against oxidized low-density lipoprotein in normolipidemic smokers

Oxidative low-density lipoprotein (LDL) damage caused by oxidants present in cigarette smoke may be involved in the pathogenesis of coronary heart disease,(1) but there is a controversy in published reports on this subject. Gouaze et al(2) demonstrated increased oxidizability in smokers, Siekmeier et al(3) could not confirm these results, and Chen and Loo(4) found an antioxidant property of cigarette smoke extract by measuring its effect on LDL oxidizability in vitro. We evaluated the contribution of cigarette smoking on LDL oxidizability and,plasma levels of antioxidized LDL in a well-defined healthy population of normolipidemic smokers. Blood samples were drawn a few minutes after subjects smoked 1 cigarette to ensure higher blood levels of oxidative products from cigarette smoke.(5).