Blood parameters associated with atherogenic and thrombogenic risk in smokers and nonsmokers with similar life-styles

Current evidence indicates that life-style factors can affect the risk of developing cardiovascular disease. The life-style of cigarette smokers, as a group, differs in many ways from that of nonsmokers. Most studies that compare clinical pathologic findings related to atherogenic and thrombogenic risk in smokers and nonsmokers do not adequately control for most of the life-style differences between these two groups. In this study, a number of atherogenic risk factors (cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, high-density lipoprotein, very low-density lipoprotein, high-density lipoprotein/cholesterol, triglycerides, and glucose) and thrombogenic risk factors (total white blood cell count, total red blood cell count; percent of monocytes, lymphocytes, neutrophils, basophils, and eosinophils; interleukin-1, leukotriene B4, hematocrit, hemoglobin, bilirubin, mean corpuscular hemoglobin, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, mean corpuscular volume, platelet count, prothrombin time, partial thromboplastin time, and fibrinogen) were compared in male and female cigarette smokers and non-smokers who were selected to have approximately similar self-reported life-styles (i.e., food, alcohol, and vitamin consumption and exercise level). However, the smokers (male and female) consumed more coffee (P < 0.05) than the nonsmokers. A trend toward blue-collar versus white collar occupational status was also observed in the male smokers relative to male nonsmokers. Cigarette consumption and urinary cotinine and carboxyhemoglobin levels did not differ between male and female smokers. Atherogenic and thrombogenic values were determined from venous blood samples. No statistically significant (P > 0.05) differences in clinical pathologic findings related to atherogenic risk were observed between the smokers and nonsmokers.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)