Nicotine, the major addicting agent in tobacco and tobacco smoke, undergoes a complex metabolic pathway, with approximately 22% of nicotine urinary metabolites in the form of phase II N-glucuronidated compounds. Recent studies have shown that UGT2B10 is a major enzyme involved in the N-glucuronidation of several tobacco-specific nitrosamines. In the present study, microsomes of UGT2B10-overexpr...

The tobacco-specific nitrosamine 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK) is a potent carcinogen, which can be characterized by urinary concentrations of the metabolite 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-butanol (NNAL) and its glucuronide. Using baseline data in current smokers from four clinical trials, we examine the associations of urinary cotinine with CPD and of total NNAL wit...

BACKGROUND In smokers, smoking causes many disease entities including cancers, chronic pulmonary diseases and cardiovascular diseases. Passive smoking is also accepted as a carcinogen and its adverse health effects are emphasized. We measured blood vitamin A, C, E (alpha-, beta- and gamma-tocopherol), coenzyme Q10 and urine cotinine concentrations in nonsmokers and smokers. METHODS Twenty-one...

OBJECTIVE To validate self reports of cigarette and smokeless tobacco (snus) use in a prospective cohort of adolescents. DESIGN A cross sectional analysis of a cohort sub-sample. SETTING County of Stockholm, Sweden. SUBJECTS 520 adolescents in the final grade of junior high school (mean age 15.0 years). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Concordance between self reported tobacco use and saliva cotini...

BACKGROUND Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) helps smokers quit smoking, but trials indicate that there is no evidence that it is effective during pregnancy. As metabolism increases during pregnancy, NRT may deliver insufficient nicotine to alleviate withdrawal symptoms. There is mixed evidence as to what levels of cotinine are reached from nicotine exposure during pregnancy while using NRT co...

Asthma environmental triggers play important roles in severity of disease. Passive smoking could exacerbate asthma symptoms and enhance the decrease in lung function. Cotinine levels could be a reflection of passive exposure to the cigarette both in adults and pediatrics. The aim of this study was to determine degree of association of asthma severity and cotinine level as a marker of passive sm...

AIMS To examine long-term changes in environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure in British men between 1978 and 2000, using serum cotinine. DESIGN Prospective cohort: British Regional Heart Study. SETTING General practices in 24 towns in England, Wales and Scotland. PARTICIPANTS Non-smoking men: 2125 studied at baseline [questionnaire (Q1): 1978-80, aged 40-59 years], 3046 studied 20 year...

Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality among U.S. children. Despite African-American children's having a lower reported exposure to tobacco compared to whites, they suffer disproportionately from tobacco-related illnesses and have higher levels of serum cotinine than white children. The goal of this study was to test whether African-American ch...

BACKGROUND Recent studies have found that cotinine is a better predictor of birthweight than the number of cigarettes smoked in pregnancy. In this paper we test this hypothesis and use cotinine to explore the effect of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) on birthweight. METHODS In all, 1254 white women were interviewed at booking, 28 and 36 weeks about the number and brand of cigarette smoked. ...

OBJECTIVES To identify any association between implementing smoking regulation policies and workers' urine cotinine concentration levels in Korea. METHODS From the first stage of the Korean National Environmental Health Survey conducted by the National Institute of Environmental Research from 2009 to 2011, 2,475 non-smoking workers selected. We analyzed the trend in the changes of cotinine co...