Does ethnic ancestry play a role in smoking?

Area of Science:

• Genetics and Public Health
• Sociology

Background:

• Higher smoking prevalence in Black Brazilians is often linked to socioeconomic disparities.
• The potential contribution of genetic factors to this trend requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the relationship between smoking status, genetically defined ethnic ancestry, and socioeconomic factors in a Brazilian population.
• To determine the primary drivers of smoking behavior in relation to ethnicity and socioeconomic status.

Main Methods:

• Collected blood samples from 448 Brazilian volunteers categorized as current smokers (CS), former smokers (FS), and never smokers (NS).
• Determined individual interethnic admixture using a 48 insertion-deletion polymorphisms ancestry-informative-marker panel.
• Analyzed associations between smoking status, ancestry proportions (European, African Sub-Saharan), years of schooling, and economic class.

Main Results:

• Current smokers (CS) exhibited lower European ancestry and higher Sub-Saharan African ancestry compared to never smokers (NS) and former smokers (FS).
• Never smokers (NS) reported significantly more years in school than current smokers (CS).
• Multivariate analysis indicated that fewer years of schooling and lower economic class were independently associated with a higher likelihood of current smoking.

Conclusions:

• Genetic ancestry markers confirmed that socioeconomic disparities are the principal determinants of elevated smoking rates among Black Brazilians.
• Public health interventions should prioritize addressing socioeconomic inequalities to reduce smoking prevalence in this demographic.