The influence of cigarette and qalyan (hookah) smoking on serum nitric oxide metabolite concentration

Abstract

Objective: To assess the effect of exposure to cigarette and qalyan (hookah) smoking on serum nitric oxide (NO) metabolites (NO_x) concentration. Material and methods: Fasting serum NO_x was measured by the Griess method in 333 men free of diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease selected from participants of the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study. Subjects were classified into active and passive cigarette smokers and they were age-matched with the non-smoker groups (n = 93/group). Twenty-seven qalyan smokers were also included in the study with their age-matched controls. Results: Multivariable-adjustment serum NO_x values were compared between groups by analysis of covariance. Serum NO_x was significantly higher (p < 0.05) in the active smokers [28.9 μmol/L (95% CI 26.2–32.0)] compared to nonsmokers [24.1 μmol/L (95% CI 21.8–26.7)]. A positive correlation was found between serum NO_x and the number of cigarettes smoked per day (r = 0.222, p < 0.05). Qalyan smokers had higher serum NO_x levels compared to the non-smoker controls [34.3 μmol/L (95% CI 27.8–42.3) vs. 22.5 μmol/L (95% CI 18.4–27.6), p < 0.01]. Conclusion: Active cigarette and qalyan smoking are associated with high serum NO_x levels.

Key Words::

• Active smoker
• hookah
• nitrate
• nitrite
• passive smoker
• qalyan smoker

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a grant (No. 177) from the Research Institute for Endocrine Sciences of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences. Technical assistance by Ms V. Khorasani and linguistic editing by Ms N. Shiva are appreciated.

Declaration of interest: The authors have nothing to declare.