Acute effect of smoking on plasma Obestatin levels.
BACKGROUND
Smoking and smoking cessation are considered to be associated with weight changes. We have recently shown that smoking acutely increases plasma levels of ghrelin, a known orexigenic hormone. Obestatin is a peptide encoded by the ghrelin gene, which opposes ghrelin effects on food intake. We conducted a study in adult volunteers measuring plasma levels of obestatin immediately after initiation of smoking.


METHODS
31 volunteers (mean age 32.2 +/- 9.2 years and mean BMI 25.7 +/- 4.1), 17 smokers and 14 non-smokers, were enrolled in our study. The 2 groups were matched in age and BMI. Plasma obestatin concentrations were determined at baseline (T0), 2 (T2), 5 (T5), 15 (T15), and 60 (T60) minutes after the initiation of smoking.


RESULTS
In all 31 subjects, no significant difference in the mean values of plasma obestatin levels was observed from baseline at T2, T5, T15 and T60 after initiation of smoking (overall p = 0.15). However, a trend for higher obestatin levels was noted in smokers vs non-smokers (overall p = 0.069), which was not related to the pack-years.


CONCLUSIONS
On the contrary with ghrelin's response after smoking initiation, there is no such an acute response of plasma obestatin levels.
Department of Endocrinology, Medical School Democritus University of Thrace, Alexandroupolis, Greece.
Asterios
A
Kukuvitis
Marios
M
Froudarakis
Stavros
S
Tryfon
Argyris
A
Tzouvelekis
Maria
M
Saroglou
Nikolaos
N
Karkavitsas
Demosthenes
D
Bouros