Jaakkola Maritta S, Ma Jiemin, Yang Gonghuan, Chin Ming Feng, Benowitz Neal L, Ceraso Marion, Samet Jonathan M
Department of Epidemiology, Bloomberry School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Prev Med. 2003 Mar;36(3):282-90. doi: 10.1016/s0091-7435(02)00037-3.
Identifying factors that affect cotinine levels in smokers may be useful for smoking cessation programs. Our aims were to characterize the distribution of salivary cotinine levels in Chinese smokers and to investigate factors that influence cotinine concentrations.
In a cross-sectional study, 600 Chinese adult smokers answered a questionnaire on smoking habits and provided a saliva sample for cotinine analysis. Modification of the relation between number of cigarettes smoked and cotinine concentration by individual characteristics, smoking behavior, and type of tobacco was evaluated.
Quadratic model provided the best fit for the relation between number of cigarettes smoked in the previous 24 hours and salivary cotinine concentration. Among those smoking up to 20 cigarettes, the median cotinine concentration was higher among younger subjects, those smoking cigarettes without filter and regular rather than light cigarettes, and those inhaling frequently and deeply. Such trends were not observed among heavier smokers. The increase in cotinine per cigarette tended to be larger in those with lower median cotinine level.
Our findings show that smoking behavior-related factors modify the relation between number of cigarettes smoked and salivary cotinine concentration. This suggests that smokers may regulate their smoking behavior to achieve a certain optimum nicotine level.
确定影响吸烟者可替宁水平的因素可能有助于戒烟项目。我们的目的是描述中国吸烟者唾液中可替宁水平的分布情况，并调查影响可替宁浓度的因素。
在一项横断面研究中，600名中国成年吸烟者回答了关于吸烟习惯的问卷，并提供唾液样本进行可替宁分析。评估了个体特征、吸烟行为和烟草类型对吸烟量与可替宁浓度之间关系的影响。
二次模型最能拟合前24小时吸烟量与唾液可替宁浓度之间的关系。在每天吸烟量不超过20支的人群中，年龄较小者、吸无过滤嘴香烟者、吸常规而非淡味香烟者以及频繁且深吸气者的可替宁浓度中位数较高。在吸烟量更大的人群中未观察到此类趋势。每支香烟的可替宁增加量在可替宁水平中位数较低者中往往更大。
我们的研究结果表明，与吸烟行为相关的因素会改变吸烟量与唾液可替宁浓度之间的关系。这表明吸烟者可能会调节自己的吸烟行为以达到某种最佳尼古丁水平。
