scholarly journals Influence of Second-Hand Smoke and Prenatal Tobacco Smoke Exposure on Biomarkers, Genetics and Physiological Processes in Children—An Overview in Research Insights of the Last Few Years

Author(s):  
Markus Braun ◽  
Doris Klingelhöfer ◽  
Gerhard M. Oremek ◽  
David Quarcoo ◽  
David A. Groneberg

Children are commonly exposed to second-hand smoke (SHS) in the domestic environment or inside vehicles of smokers. Unfortunately, prenatal tobacco smoke (PTS) exposure is still common, too. SHS is hazardous to the health of smokers and non-smokers, but especially to that of children. SHS and PTS increase the risk for children to develop cancers and can trigger or worsen asthma and allergies, modulate the immune status, and is harmful to lung, heart and blood vessels. Smoking during pregnancy can cause pregnancy complications and poor birth outcomes as well as changes in the development of the foetus. Lately, some of the molecular and genetic mechanisms that cause adverse health effects in children have been identified. In this review, some of the current insights are discussed. In this regard, it has been found in children that SHS and PTS exposure is associated with changes in levels of enzymes, hormones, and expression of genes, micro RNAs, and proteins. PTS and SHS exposure are major elicitors of mechanisms of oxidative stress. Genetic predisposition can compound the health effects of PTS and SHS exposure. Epigenetic effects might influence in utero gene expression and disease susceptibility. Hence, the limitation of domestic and public exposure to SHS as well as PTS exposure has to be in the focus of policymakers and the public in order to save the health of children at an early age. Global substantial smoke-free policies, health communication campaigns, and behavioural interventions are useful and should be mandatory.

2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-67
Author(s):  
Chizimuzo Okoli ◽  
Jonathan Kodet ◽  
Heather Robertson

Introduction: Despite the large amount that is known about the physical health effects of secondhand tobacco smoke (SHS) exposure, little is known about the behavioral health effects. Nicotine, the principle psychoactive substance in SHS, elicits subjective mood and physiological responses in nonsmokers. However, no studies have examined the subjective mood or physiological responses to nicotine in nonsmokers while accounting for prior chronic or acute SHS exposure. Methods: A 7-mg nicotine patch was administered to 17 adult nonsmokers for 2 hr. Main outcome measures obtained at ½ hr, 1 hr, and 2 hr were subjective behavioral drug effects (based on eleven 10-cm Visual Analog Scales [VASs]) and the physiological measures of heart rate, blood pressure, and serum nicotine levels. Analysis of outcome data was based on participants’ chronic (using hair nicotine) or acute (using saliva cotinine) SHS exposure. Results: Greater chronic SHS exposure was negatively associated with pleasurable responses to nicotine administration (“drug feels good” score at 2-hr time point, Spearman’s ρ = −.65, p < .004), whereas greater acute SHS exposure was associated with positive responses (“like feeling of drug” score at 2-hr time point, Spearman’s ρ = .63, p < .01). There were no associations between chronic or acute exposure and physiological changes in response to nicotine administration. Discussion: The findings of this study may be useful in providing preliminary empirical data for future explorations of the mechanism whereby SHS exposure can influence behavioral outcomes in nonsmokers. Such studies can inform future interventions to reduce the physical and behavioral health risks associated with SHS exposure.


2008 ◽  
Vol 97 (3) ◽  
pp. 354-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
AnnaKarin Johansson ◽  
Johnny Ludvigsson ◽  
Göran Hermansson

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabit Abazinab Ababulgu ◽  
Nebiyu Dereje ◽  
Abiot Girma

Tobacco use is responsible for 6 million deaths globally per year, of which 600,000 deaths are due to secondhand smoke (SHS) mainly among women and children. This study aims to determine the prevalence of SHS exposure among school-going adolescents and highlights the essential determinants in developing successful strategies to prevent adverse health effects in Ethiopia. The analysis is based on a school based cross sectional study where 1673 students with 98.2% of response rate from grade 9-12, aged 13-19 were included. Data was collected by a self-administered questionnaire that is adapted from the global youth tobacco survey questionnaire. Proportions and 95% confidence intervals were obtained as estimates of prevalence. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were made using logistic regression on SPSS version 20.0 software in order to predict factors associated with SHS exposure. About 17% of adolescents were exposed to tobacco smoke in their home, whereas more than half (60.8%) of adolescents were exposed to tobacco smoke in public places. In multivariate analysis, sex, parent smoking, peer smoking, and absence of discussion in the classroom about dangers of smoking were seen significantly associated with SHS exposure. The prevalence of SHS exposure among adolescents in Ethiopia is highest. Moreover, exposure to SHS in public places is much higher than at home.


Author(s):  
Hernâni Marques ◽  
Pedro Cruz-Vicente ◽  
Tiago Rosado ◽  
Mário Barroso ◽  
Luís A. Passarinha ◽  
...  

Environmental tobacco smoke exposure (ETS) and smoking have been described as the most prevalent factors in the development of certain diseases worldwide. According to the World Health Organization, more than 8 million people die every year due to exposure to tobacco, around 7 million due to direct ETS and the remaining due to exposure to second-hand smoke. Both active and second-hand exposure can be measured and controlled using specific biomarkers of tobacco and its derivatives, allowing the development of more efficient public health policies. Exposure to these compounds can be measured using different methods (involving for instance liquid- or gas-chromatographic procedures) in a wide range of biological specimens to estimate the type and degree of tobacco exposure. In recent years, a lot of research has been carried out using different extraction methods and different analytical equipment; this way, liquid–liquid extraction, solid-phase extraction or even miniaturized procedures have been used, followed by chromatographic analysis coupled mainly to mass spectrometric detection. Through this type of methodologies, second-hand smokers can be distinguished from active smokers, and this is also valid for e-cigarettes and vapers, among others, using their specific biomarkers. This review will focus on recent developments in the determination of tobacco smoke biomarkers, including nicotine and other tobacco alkaloids, specific nitrosamines, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, etc. The methods for their detection will be discussed in detail, as well as the potential use of threshold values to distinguish between types of exposure.


2007 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 535-544 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Köhler ◽  
S. Avenarius ◽  
A. Rabsilber ◽  
C. Gerloff ◽  
G. Jorch

Meconium samples collected from 115 neonates were analysed for nicotine, cotinine and trans -3-hydroxycotinine (OH-cotinine) by means of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to identify prenatal smoke exposure. The self-reported maternal smoking status during pregnancy was determined by means of a questionnaire and verified by measurements in urine prior to childbirth. The total sum of nicotine and its metabolites (Sumtot) of the first passed meconium samples was 1560 ± 1024 pmol/g in newborns of smoking mothers. Smoking of less than five cigarettes was clearly detected. Sumtot remained constant in all meconium samples passed by a neonate in succession. However, the proportion of nicotine decreased with the time of passage after birth and the OH-cotinine proportion increased, whereas cotinine hardly changed. Nicotine or its metabolites were not detectable in meconium (detection limit < 20 pmol/g), when the mothers were only exposed to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) using the HPLC method. The hypothesis that the content of nicotine metabolites in meconium reflects long-term smoke exposure could not be confirmed in newborns whose mothers had quit smoking during the latter half of pregnancy. Determining Sumtot enables the intensity of continuous smoking during pregnancy to be estimated in all meconium samples passed by a newborn. Human & Experimental Toxicology (2007) 26: 535—544


2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
E Melinda Mahabee-Gittens ◽  
Ashley L Merianos ◽  
Georg E Matt

BackgroundDust and surfaces are important sources of lead and pesticide exposure in young children. The purpose of this pilot study was to investigate if third-hand smoke (THS) pollutants accumulate on the hands of children who live in environments where tobacco is used and if hand nicotine levels are associated with second-hand smoke (SHS), as measured by salivary cotinine.MethodsParticipants were parents and children (n=25; age mean (SD)=5.4 (5.3) years) presenting to the emergency department with a potentially SHS-related illness. A convenience sample of participants were recruited at baseline from an ongoing two-group, randomised controlled trial of a SHS reduction and tobacco cessation intervention. Parents were current smokers; thus, all children were at risk of SHS and THS exposure to varying extents. Primary outcome measures, which were assessed in child participants only, were hand nicotine and salivary cotinine. Parents reported sociodemographics and smoking patterns; children’s medical records were abstracted for chief complaint, medical history and discharge diagnosis.ResultsAll children had detectable hand nicotine (range=18.3–690.9 ng/wipe). All but one had detectable cotinine (range=1.2–28.8 ng/mL). Multiple linear regression results showed a significant positive association between hand nicotine and cotinine (p=0.009; semipartial r2=0.24), independent of child age.DiscussionThe higher-than-expected nicotine levels and significant association with cotinine indicate that THS may play a role in the overall exposure of young children to tobacco smoke toxicants and that hand wipes could be a useful marker of overall tobacco smoke pollution and a proxy for exposure.Trial registration numberClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02531594


2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e22011-e22011
Author(s):  
Nurdan Tacyildiz ◽  
Adil Güzel ◽  
Filiz Bakar Ateş ◽  
Derya Özyörük ◽  
Emel Cabi Unal ◽  
...  

e22011 Background: The incidence of childhood cancers increased by 1 % per year over the last three decades. Life style changes and increased variety of environmental exposures are accused of this trend. One of these environmental factors is cigarette smoking and parental smoking is the main source of tobacco smoke exposure of children. There are strong reasons for considering parental smoking behaviour as a risk factor for childhood cancers. Many tobacco related compounds are detected in fetal tissues, breast milk and tissues of children of smoking parents. However, it is hard to make causal relationship between parental smoking and childhood cancers. One of the reasons is the difficulty to detect tobacco smoke exposure. Questionnaires, commonly used method to detect tobacco smoke exposure, are prone to biases. Cotinine is the main metabolite of nicotine which is the abundant organic compound in tobacco and a good biomarker to detect tobacco smoke exposure. Methods: 104 newly diagnosed, 0-18 years aged pediatric cancer patients from two pediatric oncology centers ( Ankara University Children’s Hospital and Ankara City Hospital) and 99 healthy children aged 0-18 applied to the Ankara University Children’s Hospital participated our study. Parental smoking behaviours (preconceptional, during pregnancy and current smoking) and environmental tobacco smoke exposures (ETS) of children were compared between two groups. ETS exposures of cancer patients and healthy children were evaluated by hair cotinine ELISA analysis and questionnaire. For hair cotinine analysis, 30 mg of hair samples were taken from occipital part of scalp by a stainless scissors. Samples were processed according to manufacturer's instructions. Parents of two groups were surveyed about their smoking behaviours and ETS exposures of their children. Results: We found no differences between two groups by means of maternal preconceptional smoking, smoking during pregnancy and current smoking behaviours. Paternal preconceptional smoking and smoking during pregnancy rates were significantly low in cancer patients (p < 0,05) according to questionnaire. Environmental tobacco smoke exposures were found statistically low in cancer patients according to questionnaire (p < 0,05). However, quantitative exposure assessment by hair cotinine analysis revealed that cancer patients are exposed to tobacco smoke more than healthy children (p < 0,001). Conclusions: Our findings support that smoking could be a risk factor for childhood cancers. This study also revealed that questionnaires could cause biases. We thought, social desirability bias of father of cancer patients could be a reason of their low smoking rates according to questionnaire. We suggest that cotinine analysis along with validated questionnaires can be used to prevent biases in studies of tobacco smoke in the etiology of childhood cancers.


BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. e031164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kuang Hock Lim ◽  
Sumarni Mohd Ghazali ◽  
Hui Li Lim ◽  
Kee Chee Cheong ◽  
Chien Huey Teh ◽  
...  

ObjectiveThe identification of susceptible non-smoking adolescents is an essential step in reducing smoking initiation among adolescents. The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence and factors associated with smoking susceptibility among non-smoking school-going adolescents in Malaysia.DesignCross-sectional study.SettingPrimary and secondary schools in Malaysia.Participants11 246 non-smoking school-going adolescents.Outcome measuresThe prevalence and factors associated with smoking susceptibility among non-smoking school-going adolescents in Malaysia.ResultsApproximately 14% of non-smokers were susceptible to smoking, and the prevalence of susceptibility was significantly higher among males, ever-smokers and e-cigarette users. The odds of susceptibility to smoking were higher among males, e-cigarette users, those aged 12 years and under and those who had ever smoked or tried cigarettes. Students from schools with educational programmes on the health effects of second-hand smoke (SHS) and who perceived smoking to be harmful were less likely to be susceptible to smoking.ConclusionSmoking susceptibility is prevalent among school-going adolescents. A comprehensive approach that enhances or reinforces health education programmes on the adverse health effects of smoking and SHS among school children, that considers multiple factors and that involves all stakeholders is urgently needed to reduce the prevalence of smoking susceptibility among vulnerable subgroups, as identified from the present findings.


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