Abstract
BACKGROUND: Cigarette smoking increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, and is an important preventable cause of death and illness. One major deterrent to smoking cessation is a gain in body weight. Understanding the mechanisms that contribute to this weight gain may maximize the success of long-term smoking cessation. We hypothesized that smoking cessation is associated with an increase in adipose tissue lipoprotein lipase (AT-LPL) activity and/or a decrease in lipolysis, two metabolic factors that determine the balance between fat storage and fat utilization, and thus affect the propensity for weight gain.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ten premenopausal women (37.1±6.2 y, 31.7±6.4 kg/m2 body mass index (BMI), mean±s.d.) participated in a 4 week smoking cessation program. Measurements of body weight, waist and hip circumferences, adipose cell metabolism and resting metabolic rate were obtained at baseline and after 4 weeks of smoking cessation.
RESULTS: Of the 10 women who began the intervention, five successfully completed the smoking cessation intervention. After 4 weeks of smoking cessation, there were significant increases in body weight (95.1±13.9–97.7±14.4 kg, P<0.05), with no change in waist and hip circumferences or resting energy expenditure. Gluteal AT-LPL activity significantly increased in all women by 2.8-fold (1.65±1.30–4.72±3.34 nmol/g/min, P<0.05). Abdominal AT-LPL activity increased in four out of the five women, but did not reach statistical significance (1.14±0.88–3.50±3.76 nmol/g/min, P=0.14). The increase in body weight correlated with the increase in gluteal AT-LPL activity (r=0.89, P<0.05), as well as the baseline activity of gluteal AT-LPL (r=0.86, P=0.06). There were no changes in basal or stimulated lipolysis in the gluteal or abdominal fat depots.
CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that smoking cessation is associated with significant increases in body weight, as well as changes in adipose cell metabolism, in particular increases in AT-LPL activity. This increase in LPL activity may contribute to the increase in body weight associated with smoking cessation.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $21.58 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on SpringerLink
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Feskens EJM, Kromhout D . Cardiovascular risk factors and the 25-year incidence of diabetes mellitus in middle-aged men. The Zutphen study. Am J Epidemiol 1989 130: 1101–1108.
Smoking cessation during previous year among adults—United States, 1990–1991 Morbid Mortal Wkly Rep 1993 43: 504–507.
Williamson DF, Madans J, Anda RG, Kleinman JC, Giovino GA, Byers T . Smoking cessation and severity of weight gain in a national cohort New Engl J Med 1991 324: 739.
Stamford BA, Matter S, Fell RD, Papenek P . Effects of smoking cessation on weight gain, metabolic rate, caloric consumption, and blood lipids Am J Clin Nutr 1986 43: 486–494.
Rodin J . Weight change following smoking cessation: the role of food intake and exercise Addict Behav 1987 12: 303–317.
Robinson S, York DA . The effects of cigarette smoking on the thermogenic response to feeding Int J Obes 1987 10: 407–417.
Glauser SC, Glauser EM, Reidenberg MM, Rusy BE, Tallarida RJ . Metabolic changes associated with cessation of cigarette smoking Arch Environ Health 1970 20: 377–381.
Perkins KA . Metabolic effects of smoking Am J Physiol 1992 72: 401–409.
Brunzell JD, Goldberg AP . Cigarette smoking and adipose tissue lipoprotein lipase Int J Obes 1980 4: 101–103.
Carney RM, Goldberg AP . Weight gain after cessation of cigarette smoking New Engl J Med 1984 310: 614–616.
Sztalryd C, Hamilton J, Horwitz BA, Johnson P, Kraemer FB . Alterations in lipolysis and lipoprotein lipase in chronically nicotine-treated rats Am J Physiol 1996 270: (Endocrinol Metab 33): E215–E223.
Andersson K, Arner P . Cholinocepter-mediated effects on glycerol output from human adipose tissue using in-situ microdialysis Br J Pharmac 1995 115: 1155–1162.
Weir JB . New methods for calculating metabolic rate with special reference to protein metabolism J Physiol (Lond) 1949 109: 1–9.
Dengel DR, Hagberg JM, Pratley RE, Rogus EM, Goldberg AP . Improvements in blood pressure, glucose metabolism, and lipoprotein lipids after aerobic exercise plus weight loss in obese, hypertensive middle-aged men Metabolism 1998 47: 1075–1082.
Harris JA, Benedict FB . A biomedical study of basal metabolism in man (publication no. 279) Carnegie Institute: Washington, DC 1919.
Rodbell M . Metabolism of isolated fat cells. 1. Effects of hormones on glucose metabolism and lipolysis. J Biol Chem 1964 239: 375–380.
Nicklas BJ, Rogus EM, Colman EG, Goldberg AP . Visceral adiposity, increased adipocyte lypolysis, and metabolic dysfunction in obese postmenopausal women Am J Physiol 1996 270: E72–E78.
Pykalisto OJ, Smith PH, Brunzell JD . Human adipose tissue lipoprotein lipase: comparison of assay methods and expression of activity J Soc Exp Biol Med 1975 148: 297–300.
Steinberg D, Vaughan M, Margolis S . Studies of triglyceride biosynthesis in homogenates of adipose tissue J Biol Chem 1961 236: 1631–1635.
Boobis LH, Maughan RJ . A simple one-step enzymatic fluorometric method for determination of glycerol in 20 ul of plasma Clin Chim Acta 1983 132: 173–179.
SPSS Statistics Manual SPSS Inc: Chicago, IL 1998.
Schwartz RS, Brunzell JD . Increased adipose-tissue lipoprotein lipase activity in moderately obese men after weight reduction Lancet 1978 1: 1230–1231.
Kern P, Ong J, Saffari B, Carty J . The effects of weight loss on the activity and expression of adipose-tissue lipoprotein lipase in very obese humans New Engl J Med 1990 322: 1053–1059.
Nicklas BJ, Rogus EM, Berman DM, Dennis KE, Goldberg AP . Responses of adipose tissue lipoprotein lipase to weight loss affect lipid levels and weight regain in women Am J Physiol 2000 279: E1012–E1019.
Arner P . Adrenergic receptor function in fat cells Am J Clin Nutr 1992 55: 228S–236S.
Large V, Arner P . Regulation of lipolysis in humans. Pathophysiological modulation in obesity, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia. Diabetes Metab 1998 24: 409–418.
Eliasson B, Attvall S, Taskinen M-R, Smith U . Smoking cessation improves insulin sensitivity in healthy middle-aged men Eur J Clin Invest 1997 27: 450–456.
Acknowledgements
We thank all the subjects who volunteered and the nursing and dietary staff at the GRECC at the Baltimore VAMC for assistance with research studies. This work was supported by a T32 AG00219 training grant, NIH grants R29 AG14066-02 and AG00608, and the Department of Veterans Affairs Baltimore Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ferrara, C., Kumar, M., Nicklas, B. et al. Weight gain and adipose tissue metabolism after smoking cessation in women. Int J Obes 25, 1322–1326 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0801716
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0801716