Longitudinal Changes in Cholesterol Efflux Capacities in Patients With Coronary Artery Disease Undergoing Lifestyle Modification Therapy

BackgroundOur objective was to identify the determinants of high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol efflux capacity (HDL‐CEC) changes in patients with coronary artery disease who participated in a lifestyle modification program aimed at increasing physical activity levels and improving diet quality. Methods and ResultsA total of 86 men with coronary artery disease aged between 35 and 80 years participated in a 1‐year lifestyle modification program that aimed to achieve a minimum of 150 minutes of aerobic physical activity weekly and improve diet quality. HDL‐CECs were measured before and after the 1‐year intervention using 3H‐cholesterol–labeled J774 and HepG2 cells. Visceral, subcutaneous, and cardiac adipose tissue levels were assessed before and after the intervention using magnetic resonance imaging. Lipoprotein particle size and concentrations were measured by proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and a complete lipoprotein‐lipid profile was obtained. At baseline, the best correlate of HDL‐CECs were apolipoprotein AI (R2=0.35, P