What keeps smokers thin

Previous studies have shown that smokers have less body fat as compared to non-smokers. Now, a new study by US researchers may help explain the reason.

For the study, researchers from WeillMedical College of Cornell University New York evaluated the levels of alpha2-zinc-glycoprotein1 (AZGP1), a gene linked to weight loss, in 37 healthy non-smokers and 55 healthy smokers. They found that AZGP1 levels were higher in smokers than non-smokers.They could not directly prove that smoking induced increases in AZGP1 are enough to mediate weight loss, but they speculate that the increased AZGP1 levels in smokers could be one mechanism contributing to the weight difference between smokers and non-smokers.

This study is published in the May issue of CHEST, the peer-reviewed journal of the American.