Increased oxidative stress in children exposed to passive smoking

Atherogenic process is accelerated with cigarette smoke that contains many oxidants and prooxidants, capable of producing free radical and enhancing the oxidative stress. We investigated oxidative and antioxidative status of children who had been exposed to passive smoking and compared with those of not exposed group.

One hundred forty-three school children aged 9-13 years, 61 of whom had never been exposed to passive smoking, and 82 of whom had been exposed to passive smoking at least 10 cigarette per day for at least last 1 year in their house, were enrolled in this study. Total antioxidative response (TAR) was measured to determine antioxidative status of plasma, and total peroxide concentration was measured to determine oxidative status of plasma. The ratio of TAR to total peroxide was accepted as an indicator of oxidative stress.

TAR of plasma was significantly lower in children exposed to passive smoking than in those of not exposed group (p=0.018). Mean (S.D.) values were 1.49 (0.07) and 1.52 (0.08) mmol Trolox Equiv./l, respectively. In contrary, the mean (S.D.) total peroxide level of plasma was significantly higher in children exposed to passive smoking [13.06 (2.34) micromol H2O2/l] than in not exposed group [12.24 (1.74) micromol H2O2/l] (p=0.015). The mean (S.D.) oxidative stress index (OSI) value was significantly higher in the children exposed to passive smoking [0.87 (0.15)] than in not exposed group [0.80 (0.10)] (p=0.001).

Children who are exposed to passive smoking are exposed to oxidative stress, which has been implicated in the etiopathogenesis of over 100 disorders including atherosclerosis.