Smoking Causes a Moderate or Severe Inflammatory Process in Human Body |Biomedgrid

Background: We tried to understand severity of smoking-induced inflammation on vascular endothelium in the process of metabolic syndrome. Methods: Current daily smokers at least for the last six months and age and sex-matched non-smokers were included into the study. Patients with current alcohol consumption (one drink a day) and patients with malignancies or inflammatory, infectious, or devastating disorders were excluded from the study. Results: The study included 247 smokers (173 males) and 167 non-smokers. The mean age of smokers was 46.2 years, and 70.0% of them were male. Although the mean body weight, body mass index, systolic and diastolic blood pressures, and hematocrit values were similar in both groups, fasting plasma glucose (FPG) (102.3 versus 111.6mg/dL, p= 0.007) and high-density lipoproteins (40.9 versus 44.0mg/dL, p<0.05) were lower in the smokers, significantly. Whereas triglycerides (163.1 versus 151.3mg/dL, p<0.05), low density lipoproteins (123.8 versus 117.5mg/dL, p<0.05), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (10.6 versus 9.3mm/h, p<0.05), and C-reactive protein (2.3 versus 2.0mg/L, p<0.05) were higher in the smokers, significantly. Conclusion: FPG may behave as a positive acute phase reactant (APR) in mild inflammatory disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome but as a negative APR in moderate and severe inflammatory disorders such as smoking, digital clubbing, and sickle cell diseases in human body.