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(Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. 1999;19:1945-1949.)
© 1999 American Heart Association, Inc.

Atherosclerosis and Lipoproteins

Acute Changes in Serum Lipids and Lipoprotein Subclasses in Triathletes as Assessed by Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

Harry H. Yu; Geoffrey S. Ginsburg; Mary L. O'Toole; James D. Otvos; Pamela S. Douglas; Nader Rifai

From the Department of Medicine (H.H.Y.) and the Cardiovascular Division (G.S.G., P.S.D.), Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and the Departments of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology (H.H.Y., N.R.), Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass; the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery (M.L.O.), University of Tennessee-Memphis, Tenn; and the Department of Biochemistry (J.D.O.), North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC.

Correspondence to Nader Rifai, PhD, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115. E-mail rifai{at}a1.tch.harvard.edu

Abstract—Exercise is associated with changes in lipids that may protect against coronary heart disease (CHD). In this study of 28 triathletes, we analyzed acute changes in serum lipid and lipoprotein concentrations after completion of the 1995 World Championship Hawaii Ironman Triathlon. With standard laboratory assays, we demonstrate significant decreases in total cholesterol, VLDL cholesterol, ApoB100, and Lp(a). Total HDL cholesterol increased significantly immediately after the race. With a novel proton NMR spectroscopy assay, we demonstrate that smaller diameter LDL particles, corresponding to small, dense LDL, declined by 62%. Moreover, larger HDL subclasses, whose levels are inversely associated with CHD, increased significantly by 11%. Smaller HDL subclasses, which have been directly associated with CHD in some studies, acutely decreased by 16%. Therefore, exercise not only acutely induces changes in lipoprotein concentrations among the standard species in a manner that favorably affects CHD risk, but also induces favorable changes in specific lipoprotein subclass size distribution that also may alter CHD risk independently of the total lipoprotein serum concentration.

Key Words: cholesterol • exercise • NMR • subclass

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