Abstract
Nicotine and its metabolite, cotinine, in plasma were measured by gas-chromatographic method with flame thermionic detector (FTD-GC) asreported previously. Other variables;e.9.venous blood COHb, total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol and magnesium in piarma were also measured.Those changes were observed in smoking experiments using habltual or experimental cigarette and abstinence experiment.
ln thirty-five smokers, plasma nicotine and cotinine levels and COHb % were 12.6±1.24ng ml-1,198.9±22.27ng·ml-1 and 5.8±0.41% (x±S.E.), respectiveiy.Plasma nicotine in twenty-two non-smokers was 2.0±0.48ng m1-1, but plasma cotinine was not detectable in almost cases of non-smokers.COHb % in non-smokers was 1.0±0.06%.Total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol and plasma magnesium in smokers were less than those in non-s mokers.
Although, atherogenic index calculated from total cholesterol and HDL-cholesterol did not show a significant difference between smoker and non-smoker.After one cigarette smoking, plasma nicotine level increased rapidly and reached to maximum immediately or 5 minutes after smoking. At 60 minutes later its level returned to near the level before smoking.Plasma cotinine level elevated more slowly than plasma nicotine.COHb% showed a similar change as plasma nicotine and its change is irrelevant to nicotine yield of cigarette.The decay curve of plasma nicotine after smoking had a slight fluctuation, probabiy due to redistribution and metabolic recycling of nicotine in vivo.
Total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, atherogenic index and plasma magnesium had no significant change after smoking.
Plasma nicotine and cotinine levels before or after smoking were variable considerably. lt depends not only daily consumption or nicotine yield of the cigarette smoked but very much on individual moking Pattern.ln this study, the levels of plasmanicotine, cotinine and COHb % correlated slightly with daily consumption and nicotine yield of cigarette.
