Endothelial Function Assessment in Smokers and Passive Smokers

Gaiane Simonia, Mariam Kutateladze, Irina Andronikashvili, Karlo Matitaishvili, Maka Mirziashvili 

Department of Internal Medicine, Tbilisi State Medical University, Georgia

Smoking impairs endothelial function in passive smokers as well as in active smokers. The aim of our study was evaluation of endothelial function using noninvasive ultrasonography methods flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) and peak blood flow (PBF) in nonsmoker passive smoker and smoker population. We investigated 32 normotensive, normocholesterolemic male subjects without clinical evidence of diabetes mellitus and CAD, mean age (34+9), of them -12 age-matched nonsmoker subjects, 6 passive smokers, and 14 active smokers. Our investigation revealed high positive correlation between FMD and PBF, especially in nonsmokers and passive smokers. FMD and PBF were significantly lower in smokers, than in nonsmokers. Endothelial function was significantly impaired in passive smokers compared to nonsmokers and did not significantly differ from endothelial function of smokers. Both FMD and PBF have shown similar degrees of impairment in passive smokers and smokers. Therefore, we suppose that both methods may be used for non-invasive assessment of endothelial dysfunction in clinical studies.

Keywords:  endothelial dysfunction, flow-mediated dilatation, peak blood flow, passive smoking