Serum lipids during the first year following acute spinal cord injury

Patients with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI) have low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, The cause of this abnormality and its relation to SCI are unknown, We studied 100 consecutively admitted males with acute SCI prospectively for 1 year to determine changes in serum lipids following acute SCI and the relation of these changes to the level of injury and physical activity, Low-density lipoprotein (LDL), HDL, and total cholesterol and triglycerides were all decreased following acute SCI and gradually increased toward normal by 1 year, Serum HDL, LDL, and total cholesterol levels correlated with the level of SCI: levels were lower in quadriplegic compared with paraplegic patients, Serum HDL showed the greatest change following SCI, increasing by 26% in quadriplegic and 18% in paraplegic patients, These changes in serum lipid levels could not be explained by changes in alcohol consumption or body weight, We estimated that only 44% of the increase in HDL following SCI was associated with an increase in physical activity, We postulate that interruption of the autonomic nervous system influences lipid metabolism and serum lipid levels. Copyright (C) 1998 by W.B. Saunders Company.