Alphalipoprotein cholesterol levels in relation to acute myocardial infarction and its risk factors.

During 1975-1977 twenty-nine males surviving acute myocardial infarction at an age between 40-44 years were registered in Gothenburg, Sweden. Twenty-five of these were studied and compared with two control groups. One group, the reference group (RG, n = 76), was randomly selected from the male population from which the acute myocardial infarction (AMI) group was derived. A second group, the matched control group (MC, n = 47), consisted of men with no history of coronary heart disease, matched with patients for age, serum cholesterol and body weight index. Serum triglyceride levels were higher and alphalipoprotein cholesterol lower in the AMI group than in RG. Prior to infarction, patients had a higher degree of physical activity at work and a higher tobacco consumption than RG. When AMI cases were compared with MC subjects lower alphalipoprotein cholesterol levels were found in AMI, and they also had a higher tobacco consumption prior to infarction. There was a negative correlation between alphalipoprotein cholesterol levels and tobacco consumption in the RG. The differences in alphalipoprotein cholesterol levels between AMI cases and controls could not attributed to smoking habits, but smoking may at least to some extent exert its effect as a risk factor through influence on alphalipoprotein cholesterol levels.