Medicine students and exposure to environmental tobacco smoke

Abstract

Objective: Although medicine students express positive attitudes toward providing lifestyle counseling, they require more instruction in many areas of health behavior in order to be helpful to their patients. The presented study included the students' questionnaires analysis regarding their lifestyle and exposure to tobacco smoke. The aim of this study was to exa mine students' exposure to chosen xenobiotics by determination of selected biomarkers in urine samples, which underlay the basis for exposure assessment towards tobacco smoke. Materials and Methods: The investigated group consisted of first-and second-year medicine students from the Silesian Medical University (N = 133). Data obtained from a questionnaire survey was compared with the results of chosen biomarkers determined in urine samples. The analyses of the main nicotine metabolites were carried out firstly with use of ELISA, followed by the TLC technique with densitometry. Results: According to questionnaires, every third student examined was exposed to passive smoking. The mean concentration of the main nicotine metabolites determined by ELISA in urine samples of smoking students was 1293.52±396.70 μg/g creatinine. The results of the TLC analysis in the group of smoking students were as follows: for cotinine -523.10±68.10 μg/g creatinine and for trans-3'-hydroxycotinine -653.81±62.30 μg/g creatinine. Conclusions: Medicine students, regardless of their area of study, are a highly-exposed part of the population to tobacco smoke, not only actively but also passively. Tobacco smoke exposure can be assessed by ELISA as a screening method as well as by more specific TLC technique with densitometry.

Urinary Cotinine as a Biomarker of Cigarette Smoke Exposure: A Method to Differentiate Among Active, Second-Hand, and Non-Smoker Circumstances

“…Despite their high sensitivity, the immunoassays specificity is low for cotinine quantification due to cross-reactions with other nicotine metabolites, such as 3-hydroxycotinine and 3hydroxycotinine glucuronide; on the other hand, their acquisition and operating costs are lower and they can be very useful as a screening assay, especially when used in new high throughput systems, which can be highly efficient [25,43]. In addition, immunoassays can also be complementary to the analyses conducted with chromatographic techniques, helping achieve greater selectivity when required [26].…”

“…Self-report questionnaires are the main form of smoking assessment among pregnant women, however, confirmation by laboratory analysis allows correct and reliable classification [24]. In addition, double-monitoring strategies using questionnaires and urinary cotinine quantification have been used to obtain information on the smoking status and the exposure to cigarette smoke from different sources among various population groups, such as pregnant women, university students and renal transplant recipients [21,25,26] In pregnant women, smoking concealment is frequent due to the influence of social factors. The same is true for patients suffering from diseases with a strong correlation with smoking, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and head and neck cancer.…”

Biomarkers of Exposure to Secondhand and Thirdhand Tobacco Smoke: Recent Advances and Future Perspectives

“…Mean 3HC concentrations were ca. 10 fold-higher in smokers than in SHS exposed nonsmokers (654 vs. 60.8 μg per g of creatinine (μg/g cr), respectively) [65].…”

What Does TLC Mean?

“…Moreover, this analytical technique (TLC with densitometry) has also been applied in similar studies carried out to assess exposure to tobacco smoke among pregnancies, children, and students of medicine from Upper Silesia Region in Poland [7][8][9]. Application of this chromatographic system allowed to control cessation process of volunteer and determine which of nicotine metabolite will be eliminated with urine for long period of time (Fig.…”

“…On the other hand, TLC is the worldwide organization focused on treatment, research, and outreach for people with trichotillomania, skin picking and related disorders. It is connected with Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC) 9 .…”