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Abstract
Nicotine and its 5 major metabolites (Nicotine equivalents, NE) may serve as a surrogate biomarker for smoke exposure.
Objective: To investigate the relationship between nicotine equivalents (NE) and biomarkers of exposure (BOE) to cigarette smoke.
Methods: Data from nine controlled studies in 916 adult smokers were used. BOEs to nicotine, NNK, pyrene, acrolein, benzene, 1,3-butadiene and CO were used.
Results: Among all the factors investigated (NE, cigarette type, age, gender, BMI and study), NE was the most statistically significant factor for all biomarker relationships. Weak to moderate relationships (0.32 ≤ R2 ≤ 0.65) were found between NE and the BOEs.
Conclusions: Based on the relationships with BOEs, NE may be considered as a surrogate biomarker of total cigarette smoke exposure.
Acknowledgement
The authors thank MDS Pharma Services, Lincoln, Nebraska for study conduct and data management. The authors thank Dr. Shixia Feng for bioanalytical input and review as well as Dr. Hans Roethig for providing useful comments.
Declaration of interest
All authors are or were employees of Philip Morris USA Inc./Altria Services Inc.