Immune system differences in men with hypo- or hypercholesterolemia.
Substantial epidemiologic evidence indicates that relative hypocholesterolemia in apparently healthy individuals is associated with increased subsequent mortality from cancer and other nonatherosclerotic causes of death. To test a hypothesis potentially underlying these unexplained associations, we evaluated whether individuals with hypo- and hypercholesterolemia differ in various enumerative and functional indices of the immune system. Nineteen healthy adult men with a mean age of 46 years and a mean total cholesterol concentration of 151 mg/dl constituted a low cholesterol group and were compared with 39 men of a similar age whose total cholesterol averaged 261 mg/dl. Relative to the high cholesterol group, hypocholesterolemic men had significantly fewer circulating lymphocytes, fewer total T cells, and fewer CD8+ cells (P's < 0.05). Trends toward fewer CD4+ cells and less IL-2 release in response to PHA were also noted in the low, compared to the high, cholesterol group. The low and high cholesterol groups did not differ in number of B lymphocytes, level of PHA-induced proliferation, number of natural killer (NK) cells, or degree of NK cytotoxicity. These data provide preliminary evidence of immune system differences in healthy individuals with hypo- and hypercholesterolemia.
Muldoon
M F
MF
Center for Clinical Pharmacology, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, USA.
Marsland
A
A
Flory
J D
JD
Rabin
B S
BS
Whiteside
T L
TL
Manuck
S B
SB
D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood* / Q000172:deficiency*; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL / Q000097:blood; D003677:Deficiency Diseases / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D006937:Hypercholesterolemia / Q000276:immunology*; D007107:Immune System / Q000502:physiology*; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012907:Smoking; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology
D008078:Cholesterol, LDL; D002784:Cholesterol