Relation of smoking status to serum levels of N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide in middle-aged men without overt cardiovascular disease.

Cigarette smoking impairs arterial function and promotes atherosclerosis. However, whether smoking status is associated with cardiac overload has not yet been fully examined, particularly from an epidemiologic viewpoint. The present study examined the relation of smoking status to serum levels of N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-pro-BNP), a marker of cardiac overload, in middle-aged men without overt cardiovascular disease. Serum NT-pro-BNP levels were measured in a work-site based population of 969 men (mean age 44 ± 6 years) who did not have any history or presence of cardiovascular disease. Smoking status was evaluated by self-reported questionnaire. Four hundred fifty-nine, 222, and 288 subjects were never, former, and current smokers, respectively. NT-pro-BNP levels were significantly higher in current smokers (21.7 ± 2.3 pg/ml) than in never smokers (17.9 ± 2.1 pg/ml, p <0.001). This significant difference was maintained even after adjusting for age, obesity, heart rate, hypertension, dyslipidemia, impaired fasting glucose/diabetes mellitus, left ventricular hypertrophy, estimated glomerular filtration rate, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, alcohol consumption, and regular exercise. Current smokers had an increased odds ratio (3.04, 95% confidence interval 1.64 to 5.61, p <0.001) for elevated NT-pro-BNP (>54.5 pg/ml) compared to never smokers, even after adjusting for the studied variables. In contrast, former smokers did not show a significantly increased odds ratio for elevated NT-pro-BNP. NT-pro-BNP levels showed a weak, but significant negative correlation with duration of smoking cessation (partial r = -0.15, p = 0.034) in former smokers. In conclusion, these results suggest that cigarette smoking increases cardiac overload, whereas smoking cessation ameliorates these conditions.