Correlation of urinary cotinine with cardiovascular risk factors in pan masala tobacco users.

BACKGROUND: Tobacco consumption is considered as one of the major risk factors for cardiovascular (CV) morbidity. However, the effect of paan masala tobacco (PMT) (a type of smokeless tobacco) consumption has not been well studied in our context. Our study is aimed to find an association of CV risk factors between PMT users and nonusers and to correlate those parameters with urinary cotinine level, a degradation product of nicotine occurring in tobacco. METHODS: This comparative cross-sectional study was carried out among 200 participants. The effect of PMT use on CV risk factors such as blood pressure (BP), lipid profile, and body mass index was measured against urine cotinine level. Statistical tests used were χ2 test for categorical variable, independent t-test, Mann-Whitney U test, and Spearman's correlation applied for numerical variable, and multivariate regression analysis was performed as required. The level of significance was set at p < 0.05. RESULT: Mean BP, total cholesterol, triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and median cotinine level were found to be significantly higher in PMT users than in controls (p < 0.001). Urinary cotinine level was positively correlated with mean BP, TC, TG, and LDL-C in PMT users (p < 0.001). Similarly, the odds of having hypercholesterolemia and increased diastolic BP was also significantly higher in PMT users (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: PMT use has an adverse effect on CV risk parameters and there is a rational of cotinine measurement for screening CV risk among PMT users.

Oxidant-antioxidant status and assessment of cardiovascular morbidity in Pan Masala containing Tobacco users: a cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE: Pan Masala containing Tobacco (PMT) use contributes significantly to the overall world tobacco burden especially in south Asian country like Nepal. Oxidative stress caused by it may leads to cardiovascular disease, peripheral vascular disease, hypertension, etc. Therefore, this work proposes to study the antioxidant and oxidative stress along with cardiovascular morbidity in PMT users. RESULTS: Hundred PMT users and 80 non-user controls with age and sex matched were enrolled. There was a significant difference in blood pressure, albumin, uric acid, vitamin C, vitamin E, malondialdehyde (MDA), total cholesterol, triglycerides, low density lipoprotein cholesterol between the two groups (p < 0.001). We observed statistically significant (p < 0.001) decrease in antioxidant and increase oxidative stress in PMT users. Duration and quantity of PMT user were significantly associated with the MDA level.