Cigarette smoking as a risk factor for atherosclerosis. Study of the biologic changes consecutive to smoking in normals, in patients with coronary heart disease and in diabetics.

The atherogenic action of smoking was studied in 112 male subjects with a mean age of 48.6 years, of whom 40 healthy controls, 40 patients with compensated coronary heart disease and 32 diabetics without ketoacidosis. Sixty-two were chronic smokers consuming 19.4 cigarettes/day and the remaining 50 did not smoke. The investigations performed in all the subjects were: erythrocyte count, hemoglobin and hematocrit determination, leukocyte absolute and differential counts, coagulation time (Howell), fibrinogen assay, platelet count and aggregability, total lipids, triglycerides, uric acid, creatininemia and blood glucose determinations. In the group of smokers, these investigations were repeated 60 min after the smoking of two cigarettes. Comparison of the results obtained in smokers and non-smokers, as well as before and after smoking, in the latter group, suggests that the influence of smoking upon the serum lipoprotein fractions is of little importance in atherogenesis, while its action upon the coagulation factors and the blood glucose level seems to have a real atherogenic role.