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Biomarkers of exposure and potential harm in adult smokers of 3-7 mg tar yield (Federal Trade Commission) cigarettes and in adult non-smokers.

Zedler BK, Kinser R, Oey J, Nelson B, Roethig HJ, Walk RA, Kuhl P, Rustemeier K, Schepers G, Von Holt K, Tricker AR

Philip Morris USA, Richmond, VA 23261, USA. Barbara.K.Zedler@pmusa.com

The paper reports levels of 24-h urine nicotine and five of its major metabolites (expressed as nicotine-equivalents) and blood carboxyhaemoglobin as biomarkers of exposure to particulate- and gas-phase cigarette smoke, respectively, from an exploratory pilot study of adult smokers of 3.0-6.9 mg tar delivery (Federal Trade Commission (FTC) method) cigarettes. On multiple occasions over 6 weeks, blood high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), fibrinogen, HDL- and LDL-cholesterol, and 24-h urine 8-epi-prostaglandin F2alpha (8-epi-PGF2alpha) and 11-dehydro-thromboxane B2 (11-dehydro-TxB2) were also evaluated as biomarkers of potential harm. All the biomarkers examined, except for LDL-cholesterol, discriminated with high sensitivity and specificity between adult smokers and non-smokers overall. Except for HDL-cholesterol, all biomarker medians were greater in adult smokers than in non-smokers: urine nicotine-equivalents 64.514 versus < 0.034 nmol mg-1 creatinine (p<0.001), carboxyhaemoglobin 4.0 versus 0.4% saturation (p<0.001), hs-CRP 0.27 versus 0.12 mg dl-1 (p=0.05), fibrinogen 292 versus 248 mg dl-1 (p<0.001), HDL-cholesterol 46 versus 53 mg dl-1 (p=0.003), LDL-cholesterol 119 versus 109 mg dl-1 (p=0.18), urine 8-epi-PGF2alpha 1935 versus 1034 pg mg-1 creatinine (p<0.001) and urine 11-dehydro-TxB2 973 versus 710 pg mg-1 creatinine (p<0.001). All the biomarkers of exposure and most of the biomarkers of potential harm showed no time of sampling (by visit week) effect.

Published 8 June 2006 in Biomarkers, 11(3): 201-20.
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