Immediate effect of passive smoking on microcirculatory flow.
OBJECTIVE
Exposure to SHS, as by passive smoking, seems to increase the incidence of cardiovascular events. It has been shown that active smoking of a single cigarette causes an immediate and significant decrease in microcirculatory blood flow velocity, whereas the acute effects of exposure to SHS on microcirculatory flow have as yet not been demonstrated.


METHODS
Healthy nonsmoking volunteers of both genders were studied during acute exposure to SHS of two cigarettes burning up to 10 minutes. Microvessels were examined by in vivo vital capillaroscopy (Capiflow(®)), allowing continuous assessment of CBV.


RESULTS
CBV decreased from 514 mm/sec (CI 383-646) at baseline to 306 mm/sec (CI 191-420) at end of SHS exposure with a further decrease to a nadir of 240 mm/sec (CI 155-325) four minutes after the end of this exposure (p < 0.0001; ANOVA).


CONCLUSIONS
The result of this study shows that passive inhalation of secondhand cigarette smoke induces an immediate and prolonged marked reduction in CBV in nonsmoking healthy volunteers.
Department of Clinical Sciences, Danderyd Hospital, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Peter
P
Henriksson
Qing
Q
Lu
Ulf
U
Diczfalusy
Anna
A
Freyschuss
D000328:Adult; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity / Q000187:drug effects; D002248:Carbon Monoxide / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008833:Microcirculation / Q000187:drug effects*; D020678:Microscopic Angioscopy; D012881:Skin Temperature / Q000187:drug effects; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects*; D014664:Vasodilation / Q000187:drug effects
D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution; D002248:Carbon Monoxide
blood flow velocity; capillaries; microcirculation; passive smoking; secondhand smoke; vital microscopy