Objective: To investigate the relationship of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) exposure, S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase (SAHH) activity and long noncoding RNA H19 gene expression in the urine of coke oven workers. Methods: In September 2019, in a coking plant in Taiyuan City, 146 male workers who had worked in coke oven operations for one year were selected through a completely random sampling method, and their basic personal information was collected by questionnaire survey, and blood and urine samples were collected. The levels of 4 PAHs metabolites 2-hydroxfluorene (2-FLU), 2- hydroxynaphthalene (2-NAP), 9-hydroxyphenanthren (9-PHE), and 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHP) in urine were detected by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) -fluorescence detection method. HPLC-UV detection method was used to detect the content of S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) and S-adenosylhomocysteine (SAH) in plasma, and the SAHH activity value was obtained by calculating the ratio. Reverse transcription PCR method was used to determine the H19 gene expression level. Urine levels of 2-FLU, 2-NAP, 9-PHE, and 1-OHP were divided into Q(1), Q(2), Q(3), and Q(4) groups according to quartiles (P(25), P(50), P(75)). Regression, trend test and restricted cubic splines were used to analyze the relationship among PAHs metabolites, SAHH activity, H19 gene expression and their dose-response. Results: The median age of coke oven workers was 39.60 years old, the median length of service was 20.38 years, and the urinary levels of 2-FLU, 2-NAP, 9- PHE, and 1-OHP were 0.29, 0.74, 0.09, and 0.06 μg/mmol Cr, respectively. The levels of 2-FLU, 2-NAP and 9-PHE in the urine of workers were significantly different between groups with different 1-OHP levels (P<0.05). After adjusting for age, length of service, smoking, drinking, and levels of 2-FLU, 2-NAP and 9-PHE, SAHH activity decreased with the increase of urinary 1-OHP level (OR=0.63, 95%CI: 0.41-0.98, P=0.038), showing a nonlinear relationship (P(nonlinear)= 0.030). H19 gene expression increased with the increase of urinary 1- OHP level (OR=1.51, 95%CI: 1.03-2.19, P=0.033), there was a linear relationship (P(trend)= 0.058). The relationship between the other three metabolites in urine and SAHH activity and H19 gene expression was not statistically significant (P>0.05) . Conclusion: Urinary 1-OHP level may be a risk factor for decreased SAHH activity and increased H19 gene expression in coke oven workers.
Humans ; Adult ; Coke/analysis* ; Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons/analysis* ; Occupational Exposure/analysis* ; Pyrenes/analysis* ; Smoking/urine*

BACKGROUND: We aimed to examine the association of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke with dental caries among preschool children. Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke was assessed in terms of urinary cotinine concentrations and pack-years of exposure to smoking by parents and other family members at home. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 405 preschool children aged 3-6 years from two preschools in Japan in 2006. Information on the smoking habits of family members living with the child was obtained from parent-administered questionnaires. Dental examination was conducted to assess dental caries, that is, decayed and/or filled teeth. Urinary cotinine levels were measured using first-void morning urine samples. RESULTS: Overall, 31.1% of the children had dental caries, and 29.5% had decayed teeth. Exposure to current maternal and paternal smoking was positively associated with the presence of dental caries after controlling for covariates. More than three pack-years of exposure to maternal smoking and more than five pack-years of exposure to smoking by all family members were significantly associated with the presence of dental caries as compared with no exposure (odds ratio [OR] = 5.55, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.17-14.22, P for trend < 0.001 and OR = 2.00, 95% CI = 1.12-3.58, P for trend = 0.004, respectively). These exposure variables were similarly associated with the presence of decayed teeth (OR = 2.92, 95% CI = 1.23-6.96, P for trend = 0.01 and OR = 1.75, 95% CI = 0.96-3.20, P for trend = 0.03, respectively). As compared with lowest tertile of the urinary cotinine level, the highest tertile of the urinary cotinine level was significantly associated with the presence of dental caries as well as decayed teeth; the ORs for the highest vs. lowest tertile of urinary cotinine levels were 3.10 (95% CI = 1.71-5.63, P for trend = 0.012) and 2.02 (95% CI = 1.10-3.70, P for trend = 0.10), respectively. CONCLUSIONS These data suggest that exposure to tobacco smoke may have a dose-dependent influence on the development of caries.
Child ; Child, Preschool ; Cotinine ; urine ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Dental Caries ; epidemiology ; etiology ; Female ; Humans ; Japan ; epidemiology ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Maternal Exposure ; adverse effects ; Parents ; Paternal Exposure ; adverse effects ; Risk Factors ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Tobacco Smoke Pollution ; adverse effects ; Tobacco Smoking ; adverse effects ; epidemiology

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to analyze the association between sodium excretion and obesity for healthy adults in the Gwangju area. METHODS: The participants included 80 healthy adults aged 19 to 69 years in Gwangju. The dietary intake and sodium excretion were obtained using the 24-hour recall method and 24 hour urine collection. The participants were classified into two groups according to the amount of urinary sodium excretion: (≤ 141.75 mmol/dL, > 141.75 mmol/dL). RESULTS: After adjusting for sex, age, smoking history, and income, the high excretion of sodium group was significantly higher for weight, body mass index, body fat mass, percent body fat, visceral fat area (VFA), waist circumference, hip circumference, and WHR. The energy and nutrients intake were significant after adjusting for sex, age, smoking history, and income. The LSE group had a significantly higher fat intake and Na/K intake ratio. The HSE group had significantly higher fiber intake, and K intake. As the amount of urinary sodium excretion increased, the risk of obesity before correction was 3.57 (95% CI: 1.13–11.25) times greater, and the risk of obesity of T3 increased significantly by 3.33 times (95% CI: 1.05–10.59). After correcting for sex and age, the obesity risk of T2 increased significantly by 4.23 times (95% CI: 1.11–16.06), and after correcting for sex, age, smoking history, and income, the obesity risk of T2 increased significantly by 6.81 times (95% CI: 1.44–32.19) the risk of obesity. CONCLUSIONS: An association exists between sodium excretion and obesity in Korean adults. In this study, the high excretion of sodium group was obese and the risk of obesity was higher than the low excretion of sodium group.
Adipose Tissue ; Adult ; Body Weight ; Gwangju ; Hip ; Humans ; Intra-Abdominal Fat ; Methods ; Obesity ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Sodium ; Urine Specimen Collection ; Waist Circumference

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to analyze the association between sodium excretion and obesity for healthy adults in the Gwangju area. METHODS: The participants included 80 healthy adults aged 19 to 69 years in Gwangju. The dietary intake and sodium excretion were obtained using the 24-hour recall method and 24 hour urine collection. The participants were classified into two groups according to the amount of urinary sodium excretion: (≤ 141.75 mmol/dL, > 141.75 mmol/dL). RESULTS: After adjusting for sex, age, smoking history, and income, the high excretion of sodium group was significantly higher for weight, body mass index, body fat mass, percent body fat, visceral fat area (VFA), waist circumference, hip circumference, and WHR. The energy and nutrients intake were significant after adjusting for sex, age, smoking history, and income. The LSE group had a significantly higher fat intake and Na/K intake ratio. The HSE group had significantly higher fiber intake, and K intake. As the amount of urinary sodium excretion increased, the risk of obesity before correction was 3.57 (95% CI: 1.13–11.25) times greater, and the risk of obesity of T3 increased significantly by 3.33 times (95% CI: 1.05–10.59). After correcting for sex and age, the obesity risk of T2 increased significantly by 4.23 times (95% CI: 1.11–16.06), and after correcting for sex, age, smoking history, and income, the obesity risk of T2 increased significantly by 6.81 times (95% CI: 1.44–32.19) the risk of obesity. CONCLUSIONS: An association exists between sodium excretion and obesity in Korean adults. In this study, the high excretion of sodium group was obese and the risk of obesity was higher than the low excretion of sodium group.
Adipose Tissue ; Adult ; Body Weight ; Gwangju ; Hip ; Humans ; Intra-Abdominal Fat ; Methods ; Obesity ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Sodium ; Urine Specimen Collection ; Waist Circumference

BACKGROUND: Cotinine has been widely used as an objective marker to identify current smokers. We conducted this study to address the absence of Korean studies investigating the efficacy of immunoassays and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) for the detection of serum cotinine and to determine the optimal serum cotinine cut-off level for differentiating current smokers from nonsmokers. METHODS: Serum specimens were obtained from 120 subjects. They were randomly chosen to represent a broad distribution of urine cotinine levels based on a retrospective review of questionnaires and results of urine cotinine levels. We determined serum cotinine levels using the IMMULITE 2000 XPi Immunoassay System (Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics Inc., USA) and LC-MS/MS (API-4000, Applied Biosystems, USA). Correlation was analyzed between IMMULITE serum cotinine, urine cotinine, and LC-MS/MS serum cotinine levels. ROC curve was analyzed to identify the optimal IMMULITE serum cotinine cut-off level for differentiating current smokers from nonsmokers. RESULTS: IMMULITE serum cotinine levels correlated with both urine cotinine and LC-MS/MS serum cotinine levels, with correlation coefficients of 0.958 and 0.986, respectively. The optimal serum cotinine cut-off level for distinguishing current smokers from nonsmokers was 13.2 ng/mL (95.7% sensitivity, 94.1% specificity) using IMMULITE. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to investigate the use of LC-MS/MS for the measurement of serum cotinine and to determine the optimal serum cotinine cut-off level for the IMMULITE immunoassay. Our results could provide guidelines for differentiating current smokers from nonsmokers in the Korean population.
Adult ; Area Under Curve ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; *Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Cotinine/*blood/urine ; Female ; Humans ; Immunoassay ; Male ; Middle Aged ; ROC Curve ; Republic of Korea ; Retrospective Studies ; *Smoking ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; *Tandem Mass Spectrometry

INTRODUCTIONDenial of smoking status by pregnant women presents a missed opportunity for referral to smoking cessation programmes that are shown to be effective in helping them quit smoking.

MATERIALS AND METHODSA cross-sectional epidemiological survey was conducted to detect the true prevalence of active smoking pregnant patients and the accuracy of self-reporting, investigate the sociodemographic risk factors and test the knowledge of pregnant patients on adverse effects of smoking. This involved 972 antenatal patients of a maternity hospital where participants completed a sociodemographic data survey and answered a knowledge questionnaire. Urine cotinine testing was carried out after informed consent.

RESULTSThe prevalence of active smokers was 5.2% (n = 50) with 3% (n = 29) being light smokers and 2.2% (n = 21) being heavy smokers. This was significantly higher than self-reported active smoking status of 3.7% (n = 36; P = 0.02). The Malay race, being aged less than 20 years and not having tertiary level qualifications independently increased the likelihood of being an active smoker. Knowledge of the adverse effects of smoking was generally good with a mean total score of 8.18 out of 10 but there were differences amongst the non-smokers, passive smokers, light smokers and active smokers (P = 0.012).

CONCLUSIONWhile the prevalence of active smoking among pregnant women is low in Singapore compared to other countries, this study substantiated the unreliability of self-reporting of smoking status in the pregnant population which could complicate referral to smoking cessation programmes. The lower awareness of the harms of smoking during pregnancy among smokers highlights a potential area for improvement.

Adult ; Age Factors ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Cotinine ; urine ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Ethnic Groups ; statistics & numerical data ; Female ; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice ; Hospitals, Maternity ; Hospitals, Public ; Humans ; Malaysia ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Complications ; epidemiology ; Pregnant Women ; Prevalence ; Self Report ; Singapore ; epidemiology ; Smoking ; epidemiology ; urine ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVES: Smoking is known to be associated with nephropathy in patients with diabetes. The distinct effects of smoking before and after diabetes has been diagnosed, however, are not well characterized. We evaluated the association of cigarette smoking before and after a diagnosis of diabetes with the presence of diabetic nephropathy. METHODS: We analyzed data from the 2011-2013 editions of the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. A total of 629 male patients diagnosed with diabetes were classified as non-smokers (90 patients), former smokers (225 patients), or continuing smokers (314 patients). A "former smoker" was a patient who smoked only before receiving his diagnosis of diabetes. A "continuing smoker" was a patient who smoked at any time after his diabetes had been diagnosed. Diabetic nephropathy was defined as the presence of albuminuria (spot urine albumin/creatinine ratio ≥30 mg/g) or low estimated glomerular filtration rate (<60 mL/min/1.73 m2). Multiple logistic regression models were used to assess the independent association after adjusting for age, duration of diabetes, hemoglobin A1c, body mass index, systolic blood pressure, medication for hypertension, and medication for dyslipidemia. Female patients were excluded from the study due to the small proportion of females in the survey who smoked. RESULTS: Compared to non-smokers, continuing smokers had significantly higher odds ratio ([OR], 2.17; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.23 to 3.83) of suffering from diabetic nephropathy. The corresponding OR (95% CI) for former smokers was 1.26 (0.70 to 2.29). CONCLUSIONS: Smoking after diagnosis of diabetes is significantly associated with the presence of diabetic nephropathy in the Korean male population.
Aged ; Albumins/analysis ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Blood Pressure ; Body Mass Index ; Creatinine/urine ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/complications/*diagnosis ; Diabetic Nephropathies/epidemiology/*etiology ; Female ; Glomerular Filtration Rate ; Hemoglobin A, Glycosylated/analysis ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Nutrition Surveys ; Odds Ratio ; Prevalence ; Republic of Korea ; Smoking/*adverse effects

PURPOSE: In this study, the effectiveness of a motivational interviewing smoking cessation YOU-TURN program for adolescents was examined. The program was based on the self-determination theory. METHODS: The study was carried out with a nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design. Participants in the present study were 136 high school students living in D city. The students were assigned to the experimental group (n=52) who participated in the motivational interviewing smoking cessation YOU-TURN program based on self-determination theory, or to the control group (n=84) who participated in a general smoking cessation program. Data were collected from September 1, 2013 through April 30, 2014. Collected data were analyzed using SPSS PC+ 21.0 with Chi-square test, Fisher's exact test, t-test, Mann-Whitney U test, Repeated Measures ANOVA, and MANOVA-Wilk's Lambda. RESULTS: The experimental group had a significant increase in basic psychological needs, and duration of quitting-smoking in comparison with the control group. The experimental group had a significant decrease in cigarettes smoked per day and cotinine in urine in comparison with the control group. CONCLUSION: The motivational interviewing YOU-TURN program, when delivered to adolescents who smoked, was effective in discouraging smoking, and can be utilized as an effective nursing intervention for adolescents who smoke.
Adolescent ; Cotinine/urine ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; *Motivational Interviewing ; *Personal Autonomy ; *Program Evaluation ; Psychology, Adolescent ; *Smoking Cessation

It has been suggested that there is an association between environmental, low-level arsenic exposure and the risk of diabetes mellitus (DM), but little research has been conducted. Here, the glucose tolerance status and urinary creatinine adjusted total arsenic concentrations were analyzed in 3,602 subjects > or = 20 yr of age who were registered for the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2008-2009. Various demographic parameters were associated with urinary arsenic concentrations. After adjusting for these variables, urinary arsenic concentrations in subjects with DM were significantly higher than those in subjects with normal glucose tolerance and those with impaired fasting glucose (P < 0.001). Compared with the lowest quartile ( < 70.7 microg/g creatinine), the odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for DM were 1.11 (0.73-1.68), 1.42 (0.94-2.13), and 1.56 (1.03-2.36) for urinary arsenic concentrations of 70.7 to < 117.7, 117.7 to < 193.4, and > or = 193.4 microg/g creatinine, respectively, following multivariate adjustment. Furthermore, the urinary total arsenic concentration was inversely associated with the insulin secretion index, HOMA2 %B (beta = -0.033, P = 0.032). These findings suggest that arsenic exposure, possibly involving beta cell dysfunction, is associated with an increased risk of DM in the Korean population.
Adult ; Alcohol Drinking ; Arsenic/*urine ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Blood Glucose/analysis ; Diabetes Mellitus/*epidemiology/etiology ; Female ; Glucose Tolerance Test ; Humans ; Insulin/metabolism ; Insulin Resistance ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Nutrition Surveys ; Odds Ratio ; Prevalence ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Risk Factors ; Smoking

OBJECTIVETo explore the effects of smoking on urinary 10 metabolites of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the coke oven workers.

METHODSOccupational health examination was performed on 1401 coke oven workers in one coking plant, their urine were collected respectively. The concentrations of the ten monohydroxy polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in urine were detected by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The 1401 workers were divided into four groups, namely control, adjunct workplaces, bottom and side, top group according to their workplaces and the different concentrations of PAHs in the environment. The concentrations of the ten monohydroxy polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons between smokers and nonsmokers in each workplace group were compared using analysis of covariance, respectively.

RESULTSThe levels of concentrations of the sixteen polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons we detected at control were significantly higher than those at other areas (P < 0.05). Comparing the ten monohydroxy polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons levels between smokers and nonsmokers, the levels of 1-hydroxynaphthalene and 2-hydroxynaphthalene among smokers were higher than nonsmokers with statistically significance in control, adjunct workplaces, bottom and side and top groups (P < 0.05). However, the levels of 1-hydroxypyrene had no statistically significant differences between the four areas.

CONCLUSIONUrinary 1-hydroxynaphthalene and 2-hydroxynaphthalene may be used as biomarkers for the impact of smoking on monohydroxy polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the coke oven workers.

Air Pollutants, Occupational ; urine ; Biomarkers ; urine ; Coke ; Humans ; Male ; Naphthols ; urine ; Occupational Exposure ; analysis ; Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons ; urine ; Pyrenes ; urine ; Smoking ; urine