Steptoe Andrew, Ussher Michael
Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, 1-19 Torrington Place, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
Int J Psychophysiol. 2006 Mar;59(3):228-35. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2005.10.011. Epub 2005 Dec 6.
Cigarette smoking is associated acutely with elevated cortisol levels. However, the results of comparisons of cortisol levels in smokers and non-smokers have been inconsistent, and the significance of cortisol responses in smoking cessation is unclear. Here we describe one study comparing the cortisol profiles of smokers and nonsmokers over the day, and a second investigation in which cortisol was monitored during smoking cessation. In the first study, we collected saliva samples from 196 middle-aged men and women on working and weekend days repeatedly through the day. On both working and weekend days, cortisol levels were significantly higher in smokers after adjustment for age, gender and grade of employment. Cortisol responses to waking (the increase between waking and 30 min) were also greater in smokers. The elevation in cortisol among smokers is generally attributed to nicotine exposure. Nicotine replacement therapy substantially improves abstinence rates, and has become a standard component of smoking cessation treatments, but the effects of nicotine replacement on cortisol are not known. In the second study, cortisol was monitored over 6 weeks of abstinence in 112 smokers treated with behavioural support and 15 mg nicotine patches. Smoking cessation was accompanied by an abrupt decrease in salivary cortisol, and this was sustained over the abstinence period. There was a marginal association between the decrease in cortisol and smoking relapse rates. These results suggest that the nicotine supplied through patches was not sufficient to block the cortisol reduction following smoking cessation. The contribution of these findings to understanding the role of neuroendocrine function in smoking is described.
吸烟与皮质醇水平急性升高有关。然而，吸烟者和非吸烟者皮质醇水平比较的结果并不一致，且戒烟过程中皮质醇反应的意义尚不清楚。在此，我们描述一项比较吸烟者和非吸烟者全天皮质醇水平的研究，以及另一项在戒烟期间监测皮质醇的调查。在第一项研究中，我们在工作日和周末反复收集了196名中年男性和女性一天中的唾液样本。在工作日和周末，经年龄、性别和就业等级调整后，吸烟者的皮质醇水平显著更高。吸烟者对醒来（醒来至30分钟之间的升高）的皮质醇反应也更大。吸烟者皮质醇升高通常归因于尼古丁暴露。尼古丁替代疗法显著提高了戒烟率，并已成为戒烟治疗的标准组成部分，但尼古丁替代对皮质醇的影响尚不清楚。在第二项研究中，对112名接受行为支持和15毫克尼古丁贴片治疗的吸烟者在6周的戒烟期内进行了皮质醇监测。戒烟伴随着唾液皮质醇的突然下降，且在戒烟期内持续存在。皮质醇下降与吸烟复发率之间存在微弱关联。这些结果表明，通过贴片提供的尼古丁不足以阻止戒烟后皮质醇的降低。描述了这些发现对理解神经内分泌功能在吸烟中的作用的贡献。
