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[Cotinine levels in serum and colostrum of smoking puerperae]
1III Katedy i Kliniki Ginekologii AM w Lublinie.
In 50 women (25 smokers and 25 non-smokers), cotinine, a relatively stable metabolite of nicotine, was measured in the 3rd postpartum day in blood serum and colostrum by means of enzyme-enhanced chemiluminescence. Non-smokers had cotinine levels in serum and colostrum below 10 ng/ml. Colostrum cotinine content in smokers amounted to approximately 50% of the respective serum level and both these values were strongly positively correlated (p < 0.0014). Cotinine level in early breast-milk did not correlate significantly with the number of cigarettes smoked daily by a mother. Newborns breast-fed by smoking women are exposed to the tobacco smoke compounds not only by an environmental ("passive") smoking but also by the ingestion of nicotine metabolites present in mother's milk.
In 50 women (25 smokers and 25 non-smokers), cotinine, a relatively stable metabolite of nicotine, was measured in the 3rd postpartum day in blood serum and colostrum by means of enzyme-enhanced chemiluminescence. Non-smokers had cotinine levels in serum and colostrum below 10 ng/ml. Colostrum cotinine content in smokers amounted to approximately 50% of the respective serum level and both these values were strongly positively correlated (p < 0.0014). Cotinine level in early breast-milk did not correlate significantly with the number of cigarettes smoked daily by a mother. Newborns breast-fed by smoking women are exposed to the tobacco smoke compounds not only by an environmental ("passive") smoking but also by the ingestion of nicotine metabolites present in mother's milk.
