No abstract available.
Adolescent ; Cotinine ; Humans ; Tobacco

Objectives: The reliability of surveys on smoking habits based on questionnaires was investigated, using the urinary cotinine content as an objective index. Methods: The subjects tested were 2,849 office workers of middle age, who responded to questions concerning their smoking status, and also their urinary cotinine was measured by the HPLC method. Results: The boundary value between smokers and non-smokers, determined by the histogram independent of the questionnaire, was 63.1 and 79.4 ng/mg of creatinine for males and females, respectively. The rate of misclassification of the non-smokers and former smokers as smokers was 1.3% for males and 1.8% for females, whereas that of current smokers as non-smokers was 6.3% and 2.1%. We also assessed the effect of smoke inhalation on the urinary cotinine value, and found a significant difference for males in the cotinine value by the presence of inhalation and also its depth. Conclusions: The rate of misclassification in this study was considered to be comparatively low. Several studies have also assessed the reliability of the questionnaire on smoking habits, and found different misclassification rates, indicating the dependence on the race and number of subjects tested. To our knowledge, there were only a few surveys on smoking among large groups, particularly in Japan, such as this one, therefore the results obtained in this study are meaningful.
Smoking ; Cotinine ; Indexes ; seconds ; Urine

BACKGROUND: Increasing numbers of young people go to clubs. In Korea, however, no studies have been conducted regarding the exposure of club patrons to secondhand smoke. The present study was conducted to evaluate the degree of club customers' exposure to secondhand smoke. METHODS: The study subjects included 10 male and 12 female non-smokers. The investigational site was a club located in Daegu. Urine samples were collected before exposure to secondhand smoke in the club and 6 hours after a 3-hour exposure. The urine cotinine levels were measured via the LC-MS/MS method. A survey was conducted to collect data regarding the subjects' smoking experiences and the degree of exposure to secondhand smoke in their daily lives. RESULTS: The average urine cotinine level increased from 1.09 microg/L to 5.55 microg/L (p<0.05). No significant difference existed in the change in urine cotinine level between the male and female subjects. In addition, there was no significant difference in the change in urine cotinine level by the degree of exposure to secondhand smoke in daily life. CONCLUSIONS: The average urine cotinine level in all the subjects significantly increased after exposure to secondhand smoke. This is the first study on exposure to secondhand smoke in clubs; these results can be used to craft measures that reduce exposure to secondhand smoke in public places, such as clubs.
Cotinine ; Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Tobacco Smoke Pollution

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to elucidate the relationship of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure and the urine cotinine concentrations in Korean adolescents. METHODS: The study population was 1st grade high school adolescents (n = 1467, girls 22.2%) recruited from four high schools, two from Seoul, one from Kangleung and one from Woolsan. We obtained information on active smoking and ETS exposure through self-reported questionnaire and urine cotinine concentrations. RESULTS: The prevalence of active smoking was 6.9% in boys and 0.9% in girls. Median urine cotinine concentrations were 19.5 microgram/L (range, 0-2341 microgram/L) among smokers, and 0 microgram/L (range, 0-1359 microgram/L) among nonsmokers. The positive rate of urine cotinine among nonsmokers exposed to ETS was 2.9%. Boys were exposed to ETS in the order of frequency in PC room (79.6%), home (39.4%), school (11.5%), and public places (5.9%); girls were exposed in the order of frequency in home (40.9%), PC room (33.2%), public places (28.0%), and school (15.2%). The frequency and duration of ETS exposure were significantly larger and longer in boys than in girls. Boys contacted friends who smoked more than girls did (32.6% vs. 17.1%). Parents; smoking status was similar both in boys and girls. Any information on ETS exposure did not differ according to the detectable urine cotinine among nonsmoking adolescents. CONCLUSION: Low positive rate of urine cotinine and no association of urine cotinine with various ETS exposure history reflect that urine cotinine may not be a good marker for ETS exposure in Korean adolescents.
Adolescent ; Cotinine ; Friends ; Humans ; Prevalence ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Tobacco ; Surveys and Questionnaires

BACKGROUND: Cotinine, a nicotine metabolite detected in urine, has been recommended as the best quantitative marker of smoking and environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure. The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between indoor ETS and urinary cotinine level of the passive smokers. METHODS: We selected 42 nonsmokers who lived in Seoul and were not exposed to passive smoking at least 5 days before test. Urinary cotinine levels were measured by Smokescreen Colorimeter (Surescreen Diagnostics LTD, U.K.). We measured urinary cotinine levels twice (before and after smoking exposure). RESULTS: The mean urinary cotinine level was 0.33microgram/mL before smoking exposure, and 0.46microgram/mL after smoking exposure. There was statistically significant difference (P-value=0.003). There was no significant difference between exposure time and increase of urinary cotinine level(P=0.138, r=-0.233). There was also no significant difference between measuring time taking after exposure and increase of urinary cotinine level (P=0.671, r=0.067). CONCLUSION: One experience of indoor exposure to ETS caused significant elevation of urinary cotinine level.
Cotinine* ; Nicotine ; Seoul ; Smoke* ; Smoking ; Tobacco ; Tobacco Smoke Pollution

BACKGROUND: Cotinine, a nicotine metabolite detected in urine, has been recommended as the best quantitative marker of smoking and environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure. The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between indoor ETS and urinary cotinine level of the passive smokers. METHODS: We selected 42 nonsmokers who lived in Seoul and were not exposed to passive smoking at least 5 days before test. Urinary cotinine levels were measured by Smokescreen Colorimeter (Surescreen Diagnostics LTD, U.K.). We measured urinary cotinine levels twice (before and after smoking exposure). RESULTS: The mean urinary cotinine level was 0.33microgram/mL before smoking exposure, and 0.46microgram/mL after smoking exposure. There was statistically significant difference (P-value=0.003). There was no significant difference between exposure time and increase of urinary cotinine level(P=0.138, r=-0.233). There was also no significant difference between measuring time taking after exposure and increase of urinary cotinine level (P=0.671, r=0.067). CONCLUSION: One experience of indoor exposure to ETS caused significant elevation of urinary cotinine level.
Cotinine* ; Nicotine ; Seoul ; Smoke* ; Smoking ; Tobacco ; Tobacco Smoke Pollution

BACKGROUND: Smoking is a major risk factor of stroke, but not all smokers develop stroke. This individual difference could be explained by the variation of detoxification capacity. We investigated the relationship of smoking with the genetic polymorphism of a detoxification enzyme (glutathione S-transferase: GST). METHODS: This study was conducted as a case-control study. Conventional risk factors for stroke and 3 genetic polymorphisms of GST (GSTM1, GSTT1, and GSTP1) were studied in both 290 acute ischemic stroke patients and 290 age and sex matched controls. Smoking status was determined by urinary cotinine level. The effect of interaction of GST polymorphisms and smoking on stroke risk was investigated. RESULTS: Stroke patients had higher cotinine level compared to that of control (P<0.01). There was little difference between the patient group and control group with regard to the GST polymorphism alone, but significant interaction was noticed between the GST polymorphism and the smoking status. When we stratified the group according to the smoking status by cotinine level, stroke was significantly more frequent in GSTM1 null type and GSTT1, GSTP1 wild type of the high cotinine level group (OR and 95% CI: 2.115, 1.219-3.670; 2.620, 1.480-4.638; 2.212, 1.343-3.644 respectively). CONCLUSION: GST polymorphisms interact with the smoking and confer an increased risk of ischemic stroke, indicating that genetic polymorphism of GST might reveal smokers who are more susceptible to the ischemic stroke.
Case-Control Studies ; Cotinine ; Glutathione ; Glutathione Transferase ; Humans ; Individuality ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Risk Factors ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Stroke

OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted to validate self-reported smoking among high school students using urinary cotinine. METHODS: A self report of smoking behavior was collected together with urine sample for cotinine analysis from 130 male and female students in two vocational high school students in November, 2007. Validity and agreement between self-reported smoking and urinary cotinine was analyzed with STATA 9.0 for different definitions of current smokers, and frequent and daily smokers. Urinary cotinine concentration was measured by the DRI Cotinine Assay for urine (Microgenics Corp., Fremont, CA) on Toshiba 200FR. The cut-off point of urinary cotinine was 50 ng/dl. RESULTS: The concentrations of urinary cotinine were significantly different according to the frequency and amount of smoking. Sensitivity and specificity was 90.9% and 91.8% respectively, and the Cohen's kappa value was 0.787 among the current smokers who smoked at least one day during one month preceding the survey. The comparable high sensitivity, specificity, and kappa value were shown also among the other definitions of current smokers, that is, subjective smokers, and weekly smokers. CONCLUSIONS: The results showed the high validity of self-reported smoking among high school students. However, due to the small sample size and limitation of the participants, it is cautious to generalize the results to overall high school students.
Adolescent ; *Adolescent Behavior ; Cotinine/*urine ; Female ; Humans ; Korea/epidemiology ; Male ; Self Disclosure ; Smoking/epidemiology/*urine ; Students

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the internal burden and hazardous effects associated with smoking in middle and high school students. METHODS: We analysed urinary cotinine (U-cotinine) concentrations and the frequency of Sister Chromatid Exchanges (SCE). A comparison was done of U-cotinine concentrations and the frequency of SCE in peripheral lymphocytes across school levels (middle vs. high) and smoking types (direct: daily & occasional smoking, indirect: usual indirect & non-smoking), in 122 males. RESULTS: The middle school student group comprised 6.8% daily smokers, 15.9% occasional smokers, 40.9% daily indirect smokers, and 35.4% nonsmokers, while the high school student group comprised 18.0%, 20.5%,39.7%, and 21.8%, respectively. The U-cotinine concentration and the frequency of SCE among the middle school students were 79.11 microgram/literand 2.0 per cell, respectively, which were significantly lower than the 146.85 microgram/liter (p=0.078) and 2.6 per cell (p=0.005) of the high school students. Among the 40 direct smokers, these two biomarkers were 235.66 microgram/literand 2.59 per cell, significantly higher than the 67.33 microgram/liter (p=0.0001) and2.1 per cell (p=0.003) among indirect smoking groups. The variation in individual U-cotinine concentration ranged widely in both the indirect and direct smoking groups. CONCLUSION: Urinary cotinine concentrations and the frequency of Sister Chromatid Exchange seem to objectively and effectively evaluate student exposure whether it was direct or indirect smoking. Consequently, these biomarkers may be useful in monitoring the objective efficacy of anti-smoking programs in adolescent populations.
Adolescent* ; Biological Markers ; Cotinine* ; Humans ; Lymphocytes* ; Male* ; Siblings* ; Sister Chromatid Exchange* ; Smoke ; Smoking

OBJECTIVETo establish a GC/MS method for analysis of cotinine (COT), phenylglyoxylic acid (PA) and mandelic acid (MA) in human urine.

METHODSHuman urine samples were extracted by CCl(3) and derivatized with MSTFA after dried completely. The contents of COT, PA and MA were measured by GC/MS method with DB-5MS capillary column and EI ion-source.

RESULTThe calibration curves for COT in urine samples were linear over the concentration ranges of 0.0002 approximately 3.5 microg ml(-1), while PA and MA were both of 1.25 approximately 160 microg ml(-1). The limits of quantification were 0.0002 microg ml(-1), 1.25 microg ml(-1) and 1.25 microg ml(-1) for COT, PA and MA, respectively. The assay recoveries for COT, PA and MA ranged from 89.53% approximately 102.4%, 84.88% approximately 91.46% and 83.46% approximately 13.6%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONThe established method can detect cotinine, phenylglyoxylic acid and mandelic acid simultaneously, which would be used in routine assessment and monitoring of the internal exposure to nicotine and styrene in human body.

Cotinine ; urine ; Environmental Pollutants ; urine ; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry ; Glyoxylates ; urine ; Humans ; Mandelic Acids ; urine