Light or regular cigarette smoking: effect on brachial artery flow mediated dilation

AIM: Many smokers use light cigarettes in the belief that this may reduce the risk for health. In this study we investigated whether the effect of cigarette smoking on brachial artery flow mediated dilation (FMD%) is related to the cigarettes’ content of tar, nicotine or carbon-monoxide. METHODS: 206 subjects (59% men, age 52±13 yr) participated in the study. FMD% was measured by B-mode ultrasound. Smoking habits were recorded on the basis of a face-to-face interview. Cigarettes’ were defined as “light” or “regular” on the basis of a content of tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide above or below their respective medians. The chronic effect was assessed in 53 consumers of light cigarettes, 85 consumers of regular cigarettes and 68 never smokers. The acute effect was assessed in 51 and 29 smokers, who smoked a single light or regular cigarette smokers, respectively. In these subjects, FMD% was measured before and 10 min after smoking. RESULTS: FMD% of both light (5.66±3.18%) and regular cigarettes (6.15±3.33%) consumers were lower than that of never smokers (8.86±3.41%, p<0.0001) but did not differ when the first two groups were compared each other (p>0.05). Both types of cigarettes induced an acute reduction of FMD% (Both p<0.05), but also in this case the effect of a single light cigarette did not differ from that of a single regular one (ΔFMD= -0.88±2.12% vs -1.17±2.71, respectively, p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Consumption of light cigarettes does not reduce the detrimental effect of smoking on FMD% observed in consumers of regular cigarettes.