Plasma cotinine levels in cigarette smokers: impact of mental health and other correlates.
OBJECTIVE
We examined in cigarette smokers whether cotinine was associated with depressive and/or anxiety disorders.


METHODS
Data were derived from 1,026 smoking adults with and without depressive and/or anxiety disorders participating in the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (NESDA). Depressive and anxiety disorders were ascertained with the DSM-IV Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Cigarette consumption was inquired about during an interview. Cotinine was assessed in plasma.


RESULTS
Currently depressed and/or anxious smokers (n=692) reported smoking a higher number of cigarettes per day (CPD) than smokers with a remitted disorder (n=190) and smokers with no lifetime disorder (n=144). After controlling for CPD and other covariates, depressed and/or anxious smokers had lower cotinine levels compared to smokers with no lifetime disorder (B=-56.0, p=0.001). In the full regression model, CPD was positively associated with cotinine levels, whereas current depression and/or anxiety and high body mass index were inversely associated with cotinine.


CONCLUSIONS
After considering CPD, the presence of current depressive and/or anxiety disorders was associated with lower cotinine levels, which may point to a different smoking topography or a faster cotinine metabolism in individuals with affective disorders. The latter could help to explain the higher number of cigarettes smoked and poorer cessation rates among depressed or anxious patients.
Department of Psychiatry, EMGO Institute of Health and Care Research, Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, VU University Medical Center, and GGZinGeest, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Mariska
M
Bot
Jacqueline
J
Vink
Yuri
Y
Milaneschi
Johannes H
JH
Smit
Cornelis
C
Kluft
Jacoline
J
Neuteboom
Brenda
B
Penninx
D000328:Adult; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000097:blood* / Q000523:psychology; D003367:Cotinine / Q000097:blood*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000097:blood* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012907:Smoking / Q000097:blood* / Q000523:psychology
D003367:Cotinine