Abstract

Cigarette smoking has long been recognized as a major risk factor in the development of coronary heart disease. Several investigators have reported the strong association between smoking and high serum cholesterol, triglyceride concentration, SFA and low HDL cholesterol, PUFA and omega6 concentrations. Therefore, this study was done to investigate the effect of smoking on the serum lipid profile and fatty acid composition of college women. Sixty-one non-smokers and twenty-seven smokers were selected from college women students in the Seoul area. Their lipid intake, serum lipid concentration and fatty acid composition were examined. There were no differences in the general characteristics and anthropometric indices between the smokers and non-smokers. However, alcohol consumption was significantly higher in smokers than non-smokers (p<0.001). The daily caloric intake of smokers and non-smokers were 1875.84 kcal and 1915.53 kacl, respectively. On the other hand, the mean daily intake of lipids and cholesterol were significantly lower in smokers (p<0.05). In smokers, the mean concentrations of serum total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol and the LDL-C/HDL-C ratio were higher, and the compositions of EPA and DHA were lowe than in non-smokers. There was a negative correlation between the serum triglyceride and PUFA levels in the two groups. Also, serum HDL-C correlated negatively with MUFA in smokers and non-smokers (p<0.01). These results suggest that smoking cause inadequate changes in serum lipid profile and serum fatty acid composition, thereby increasing the tendency for coronary heart disease.

• Keywords: smoking; lipid intake; serum lipid; fatty acide composition; college women