THE EFFECT OF TOBACCO SMOKING ON HOMOCYSTEINE METABOLISM IN HEALTHY NICOTINE-DEPENDENT PEOPLE LIVING IN THE АRKHANGELSK REGION

Abstract

Introduction. Tobacco smoking remains a global medical, social and economic problem worldwide. One of the pathological effects of nicotine and tobacco smoke components is the suppression of folate metabolism and a decrease in B vitamins in the human body, which, together, entails a violation of homocysteine metabolism and leads to endothelial dysfunction and the development of adverse vascular events. The purpose of the study — to identify the effect of tobacco smoking and the concentration of vitamins (B6, B9, B12) on homocysteine metabolism in healthy young volunteers. Materials and methods. The study was carried out on a sample of ethnic Russians living in the city of Arkhangelsk. 259 healthy volunteers of both sexes of young age from 18 to 32 years old were included, a survey of participants was conducted, the levels of folic acid, vitamin B6 and B12, homocysteine were analyzed by immunological method. Statistical processing of the data obtained during the study was carried out by methods of descriptive and analytical statistics using the R 4.2.3 programming language in the Rstudio 1.2.5019 program. Results. There were no statistically significant differences in all defined indicators between the group of smokers and non-smokers. But the average homocysteine level in the smoker group is higher (Iu=8.00) than in the non-smoker group (Iu=7.00). At the same time, the participants who smoked cigarettes had higher homocysteine levels (Iu=8.6) than those who smoked electronic cigarettes (Iu=7.2). The average serum folic acid concentration in smokers is lower (Iu=4.00) than in nonsmokers (Iu=6.5). In the group of smokers, folate deficiency was registered in 13 participants. Folic acid deficiency was not detected in the non-smoking group. An inverse relationship of average strength between the level of homocysteine and the concentration of folic acid in the blood serum (p <0.01) was revealed. Conclusion. In this study, the relationship between smoking and homocysteine levels was not revealed, however, the average homocysteine level in the smoker group is higher than in the non-smoker group. The lack of correlation may be due to the short smoking experience, the small number of cigarettes smoked per day, the low smoker index and the young age of the study participants. It was revealed that the average homocysteine level in smokers of traditional cigarettes was higher than in participants using electronic tobacco heating systems.