title: Cotinine levels in Southeast Asian smokers.
abstract: Understanding the contribution of race to factors associated with cigarette smoking and nicotine metabolism is essential for the characterization of patterns of tobacco use, nicotine dependence and incidence of tobacco-related diseases. This paper reports an investigation of cotinine levels among Southeast Asian smokers in two separate studies. Study 1 included 327 male and female smokers who participated in community-based interviews where smoking history information was obtained and a saliva continine sample was collected. Results indicated that subjects smoked an average of 11.2 cigarettes/day, with men reporting significantly higher consumption rates as compared to women (p < 0.0001). Subjects' mean cotinine level was 65 ng/ml with an average cotinine/cigarette ratio of 8.2. In Study 2, plasma and saliva cotinine in six Southeast Asian adult smokers were measured during 2 days of smoking followed by 6 days of abstinence. On day 1, mean plasma and saliva continine levels were 268 and 235 ng/ml, respectively. After 6 days of abstinence, mean levels had dropped to 12 ng/ml for plasma and 8 ng/ml in saliva. On average, it required at least 4.7 days for saliva continine levels to reach < 14 ng/ml. Mean cotinine concentrations during smoking differed in these two separate studies. Implications of these findings are discussed and future research recommendations are presented.
authors.affiliation: College of Nursing, Ohio State University, Columbus 43210-1289, USA. wewers.l@osu.edu
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Wewers
authors.forename: K L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Ahijevych
authors.forename: R K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Dhatt
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Guthrie
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kuun
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mitchell
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Moeschberger
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001210:Asia, Southeastern / Q000208:ethnology; D044466:Asian People; D015415:Biomarkers; D003367:Cotinine / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006207:Half-Life; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009820:Ohio / Q000453:epidemiology; D044469:Racial Groups; D012463:Saliva / Q000378:metabolism; D012737:Sex Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000378:metabolism; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000208:ethnology*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D003367:Cotinine