Plasma nicotine and its metabolite as biomarkers of tobacco exposure and their relevance to pulmonary nodule
Creators: name: Wang, Na
name: Xiao, Wei
name: Tang, Qian
name: Hu, Wenlei
name: Wang, Sheng
name: Zhang, Zhihua
name: Huang, Fen
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: Biochemistry
subject: Medicine
subject: Cell Biology
subject: Biotechnology
subject: Chemical Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Sociology
subject: FOS: Sociology
subject: Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Cancer
subject: Plant Biology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences

description: <b>Aim:</b> Explore the optimal cut-off values for plasma nicotine and its metabolites in assessing smoking status and quantify the association between individual tobacco exposure and pulmonary nodules (PNs). <b>Materials &amp; methods:</b> A total of 2245 plasma samples were included for the determination of nicotine (Nic), cotinine (Cot) and <i>trans</i>-3′-hydroxycotinine (OHCot) concentrations. The receiver operating characteristic curve was used to determine the optimal biomarkers reflecting smoking status. Binary logistic regression, restricted cubic spline and generalized linear model were used to analyze the association of nicotine and its metabolites with PNs. Quantile g-computation was used to investigate the mixed effects between them. <b>Results:</b> Cot was found to be the best biomarker of self-reported active-passive smoking, with optimal thresholds of 9.06 and 1.26 ng/ml, respectively. Except for OHCot, increased concentrations of Cot, Nic, total nicotine equivalent (TNE2) and TNE3 were significantly positively associated with the risk of PNs, whereas nicotine metabolite ratio presented a negative association. The mixed effects of OHCot, Cot and Nic were associated with PNs, with an odds ratio of 1.17 and a 95% CI of 1.05–1.30. <b>Conclusion:</b> Nicotine and its metabolites as potential biomarkers of tobacco exposure were significantly associated with PNs. To quantify individual tobacco exposure is a public health challenge. Pulmonary nodules (PNs) detection rates have risen in recent years, but there is a paucity of research on the association between smoking and PNs. Nic and its metabolite concentrations in plasma samples were measured using liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS). Identify the optimum biomarker for self-reported smoking status by obtaining the area under the curve from the receiver operator characteristic curve. The binary logistic regression and restricted cubic spline, generalized linear model were used to analyze the association between nicotine and its metabolites and PNs. The Quantile g-Computation model was used to explore the mixed effects of nicotine (Nic), cotinine (Cot) and <i>trans</i>-3′-hydroxycotinine (OHCot) on PNs. Cotinine (Cot) is the optimal biomarker for self-reported smoking status, with an area under the curve of 0.958. The risk of PNs increased significantly with increasing concentrations of Cot, Nic, TNE2 and TNE3. There was a significant positive effect of the mixed effect of OHCot, Cot and Nic on PNs in the Quantile g-Computation model. Nicotine and its metabolites as biomarkers of tobacco exposure are highly associated with the development of PNs, but the relationship between them needs to be explored in greater depth.