title: Smoking and vascular dysfunction in Africans and Caucasians from South Africa.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Smoking is an important modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease, with limited research having been done in Africans. We aimed to determine the association between smoking and measurements of vascular function in Africans and Caucasians.
  
  
  METHODS
  We determined anthropometric and cardiovascular variables, serum cotinine and C-reactive protein (CRP) in African and Caucasian participants from South Africa (n = 630).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Africans had significantly lower body mass index (BMI), higher blood pressure and lower socio-economic status (SES) than Caucasians. Only African smokers showed increased arterial stiffness and a significant correlation between smoking and arterial stiffness. African smokers had increased and Caucasian smokers decreased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) than the non-smokers. After adjusting for confounders, smoking showed few correlations, mainly with heart rate and CRP. In Africans, smoking also correlated positively with HDL-C, with the opposite result in Caucasians.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  African smokers had significantly increased arterial stiffness, which was not found in Caucasian smokers. Africans generally demonstrated more associations between smoking and cardiovascular dysfunction than Caucasians.
authors.affiliation: Hypertension in Africa Research Team (HART), School for Physiology, Nutrition and Consumer Sciences, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa.
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Zatu
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Van Rooyen
authors.forename: A E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Schutte
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001158:Arteries / Q000503:physiopathology; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D044383:Black People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001794:Blood Pressure; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000032:analysis; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000097:blood; D003367:Cotinine / Q000097:blood; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004548:Elasticity; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000097:blood / Q000208:ethnology*; D013019:South Africa / Q000453:epidemiology; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL; D002097:C-Reactive Protein; D003367:Cotinine