Summary
The activity of lecithin: cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) and the plasma lipoprotein concentrations of elite athletes from 8 selected sports (volleyball, judo, sprinting, wrestling, throwing, cycling, water polo and tennis) were determined and compared with those of a sedentary control group. Plasma LCAT activity levels in the athletes were significantly 2.2–7.0 times higher than in the controls in most sports (p<0.01). Judo, sprinting, wrestling and throwing had comparable LCAT values while tennis, volleyball and cycling were considerably higher. HDL-C concentration was significantly higher than controls in the water polo (p<0.05), cycling and volleyball (P<0.01) groups. Percentage lipoprotein distribution in the athletes in all sports except tennis, throwing and wrestling were similar to the controls. The differences among groups in LCAT activity may be related to the effect of physical exercise and training adaptations to lipid metabolism. This may be of importance when judging the benefit of exercise for atherosclerosis protection.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Allain CC, Poon LS, Chan CS, Richmond W, Fu PC (1974) Enzymatic determination of total serum cholesterol. Clin Chem 20:470–475
Berg A, Keul J (1985) Influence of maximum aerobic capacity and relative body weight on the lipoprotein profile in athletes. Atherosclerosis 55:225–231
Castelli WP, Doyle JT, Gordon T, Hames CG, Hjortland MC, Hulley SB, Kagan A, Zukel WJ (1977) HDL Cholesterol and other lipids in coronary heart disease-cooperative lipoprotein phenotyping study. Circulation 55:767–772
Dufaux B, Assmann G, Hollman W (1982) Plasma lipoproteins and physical activity: a review. Int J Sport Med 3:123–136
Enger SC, Herbjornsen K, Erinssen J, Fretland A (1977) High density lipoproteins (HDL) and physical activity: the influence of physical exercise, age and smoking on HDL-cholesterol and the HDL/total cholesterol ratio. Scand J Clin Lab Invest 37:251–255
Friedwald WT, Levy RK, Fredrickson DS (1972) Estimation of the concentration of LDL-C in plasma without use of the preparative ultracentrifuge. Clin Chem 18:499–502
Glomset JA (1962) The mechanism of plasma cholesterol esterification reaction: plasma fatty acid transferase. Biochim Biophys Acta 65:128–135
Glomset JA (1968) The plasma lecithin: cholesterol acyltransferase reaction. J Lipid Res 9:155–167
Hitz J, Steinmetz J, Siest J (1983) Plasma lecithin: cholesterol acyltransferase-reference values and effects of xenobiotics. Clin Chem Acta 133:85–96
Lehtonen A (1982) Exercise training and serum lipids. In: Hietanen E (ed) Regulation of serum lipids by physical exercise. CRC Press, Florida, pp 71–88
Lehtonen A, Viikari J (1978) The effect of vigorous physical activity at work, on serum lipids with special reference to serum HDL-C. Acta Physiol Scand 104:117–121a
Lehtonen A, Viikari J (1980) Serum lipids in soccer and ice-hockey players. Metabolism 29:36–39
Lopez-Virella MF, Stone P, Ellis S, Colwell J (1977) Cholesterol determination of high density lipoprotein separated by three different methods. Clin Chem 23:882–884
Marniemi J, Dahlström S, Kvist M, Seppänen A, Hietanen E (1982) Dependence of serum lipid and lecithin: cholesterol acyltransferase levels on physical training in young men. Eur J Appl Physiol 49:25–35
Martin RP, Haskell WL, Wood PD (1977) Blood chemistry and lipid profiles of elite distance runners. Ann NY Acad Sci 301:346–370
Miller GJ, Miller NE (1975) Plasma high density lipoproteins concentration and development of ischemic heart disease. Lancet 1:16–19
Moffat RJ, Gilliam JB (1979) Serum lipids and lipoproteins as affected by exercise: a review. Artery 6:1–19
Peltonen P, Suistomaa V, Marniemi J, Vuori J, Hietanen E (1980) Effect of exercise on lecithin-cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) activity in man. Acta Physiol Scand 109:23A
Tsopanakis C, Kotsarellis D, Tsopanakis A (1986) Lipoprotein and lipid profiles of elite athletes in Olympic Sports. Int J Sports Med 7:316–321
Yano Y, Irie N, Homma M (1980) High density cholesterol levels in the Japanese. Atherosclerosis 36:173–181
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tsopanakis, C., Kotsarellis, D. & Tsopanakis, A. Plasma lecithin: cholesterol acyltransferase activity in elite athletes from selected sports. Europ. J. Appl. Physiol. 58, 262–265 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00417260
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00417260