OBJECTIVE To explore the relationship between tobacco smoke exposure (reported versus biomarker) and rates of readmission for children hospitalized for asthma. METHODS We enrolled a prospective cohort of 774 children aged 1 to 16 years admitted for asthma or bronchodilator-responsive wheezing. The primary outcome was at least 1 asthma- or wheeze-related readmission within 1 year. Caregivers r...

Measurement of cotinine, a nicotine metabolite, has been studied as a method for monitoring smoking behavior and determining smoking status. We describe a specific, sensitive method for quantifying it in plasma and saliva by reversed-phase paired-ion liquid chromatography and detection by absorbance at 257 nm. The cotinine is extracted with methylene chloride, and 2-phenylimidazole is the inter...

Two predominant human glucuronide metabolites of nicotine result from pyridine nitrogen atom conjugation. The present objectives included determination of the kinetics of formation of S(-)-cotinine N1-glucuronide in pooled human liver microsomes and investigation of the UDP-glucuronosyltransferases (UGTs) involved in N-glucuronidation of nicotine isomers and S(-)-cotinine by use of recombinant ...

BACKGROUND Cotinine levels provide a valid measure of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). The goal of this study was to examine exposure to tobacco smoke among smoking and nonsmoking Israeli adults and to identify differences in ETS exposure among nonsmokers by socio-demographic factors. METHODS We analyzed urinary cotinine data from the first Israeli human biomonitoring study cond...

Secondhand smoke (SHS) has been associated with a variety of adverse health outcomes in nonsmokers, including emphysema (a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). One way to detect SHS exposure is to measure the concentration of cotinine, the primary metabolite of nicotine, in bodily fluids. We have developed a method for cotinine analysis by combining micellar electrokinetic chromatography wit...

Article history: Received on: 08/03/2013 Revised on: 04/04/2013 Accepted on: 14/06/2013 Available online: 30/06/2013 We studied the effects of cotinine, the major metabolite of nicotine, on nicotine-induced decrease in prostacyclin (PGI2) synthase activity of microsomes from isolated rabbit heart after sympathetic stimulation. Rabbit hearts were isolated along with their sympathetic nerves and ...

Creatinine and specific gravity (relative density) measurements both allow differences in urine concentration to be taken into account in determining urine cotinine concentrations. In this study we demonstrate that the variance of urine cotinine measurements is reduced comparably when either creatinine or specific gravity measurements are used for correction. This reduction in variability impro...

Background & objectives: The number of waterpipe cafes has considerably grown in Tehran and other cities of Iran. This increase has occurred due to a wrong belief that the use of hookahs is harmless and relatively safe. So, the aim of current study is to investigate the nicotine concentration in the indoor air of the waterpipe and cigarette cafés as well as the biological concentration of nicot...

BACKGROUND Few studies have directly assessed the association of secondhand smoke (SHS) with cardiovascular disease-related inflammatory markers, and the findings are inconsistent. OBJECTIVES We assessed the association between SHS exposure and the inflammatory markers high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) i...

There is wide variability in cotinine levels per cigarette smoked. We hypothesized that in addition to smoking frequency, other behavioral measures of nicotine dependence, such as the time to first cigarette after waking, are associated with cotinine levels. To test this hypothesis, we measured plasma and urinary cotinine in a community-based study of 252 black and white daily cigarette smokers...