Riley A. Davis

A further study of FTC yield and nicotine absorption in smokers

Abstract The relationship between nicotine yield as determined by the FTC method and nicotine absorption was examined in 72 smokers in a more rigorous repetition of a previous study of 33 smokers. For this study, 113 smokers evenly distributed across four FTC “tar” yield ranges were recruited; only 72 demonstrated reasonable compliance with the study criteria with regard to sample collections and cigarette brand style consistency. Subjects recorded the number of cigarettes smoked daily and collected a 24-h urine sample and a saliva sample on 3 consecutive days. Nicotine absorption was determined by monitoring urinary excretion of nicotine and its metabolites. In addition, saliva samples were monitored for cotinine using radioimmunoassay (RIA). The correlation of the relationship for nicotine absorbed per cigarette was positive and significant (r = 0.31, P = 0.008) but weaker than in the previous study. Only smokers in the highest yield range showed any statistical difference from smokers in the lower ranges. Our results suggest that FTC nicotine yield is weakly related to nicotine absorption and that smoker-controlled factors exert a great influence on the amount of nicotine absorbed by smokers. Compensation is substantial but incomplete for the minority (by market share) of smokers at the low end of the yield scale. It is uncertain how well any alternative set of machine parameters would predict nicotine absorption for the majority of smokers, even if it were more predictive for the small number of smokers at the lower yield part of the range.

Assessing the sensory role of nicotine in cigarette smoking.

Thirty-two subjects were tested in five double-blind sessions (16 subjects in the morning following overnight smoking abstention, and 16 in the afternoon following ad-lib smoking). In each session, subjects smoked one of five experimental (EX) cigarettes having the following FTC nicotine/‘tar’ yields in mg: 0.08/8.5, 0.17/9.1, 0.37/9.8, 0.48/9.8, and 0.74/10.4. In a sixth session, subjects smoked a 0.71/8.6 commercial ‘light’ (CL) cigarette that was their usual brand. Before and after smoking, subjects subjectively rated their desire to smoke a cigarette of their usual brand and had blood smaples drawn. Following smoking subjects rated the cigarette on a variety of sensory dimensions; they also rated smoking satisfaction. Analysis of variance indicated that nicotine played an important sensory role for a variety of dimensions related to cigarette taste and sensory impact but not perceived draw. Principal-components analyses indicated that sensory factors were at least as important as nicotine pharmacology (indirectly indexed by the preto post-smoking rise in blood nicotine concentration) when considering smoking’s overall effects on satisfaction, product acceptance, and reduction in desire to smoke.

National incidence of smoking and misclassification among the U.S. married female population

Because of a lack of representative data on smoking status misclassification among U.S. married females, a two-part study was conducted. Part I was conducted to obtain nationally representative estimates of the percentage of U.S. women who report themselves to be current, former, and never smokers, to determine the concordance of smoking habits among spouse pairs, and to establish field quotas and probability weightings for Part II. Part II was conducted to determine smoker misclassification rates using salivary cotinine as an indication of active smoking. Part I, conducted in January 25-29, 1992, utilized random-digit dialing telephone interviewing throughout the 48 contiguous United States. Part II, conducted from February 19, 1992 to March 7, 1992, was a mall-intercept study in nine geographically disperse U.S. cities and it involved interviewing and saliva collection. Among married U.S. women, 25% reported they were current smokers, 22% reported they were former smokers, and 53% reported they were never smokers. Using a cotinine concentration of either > 35 ng/ml or > 106 ng/ml to indicate regular smoking, 3.61% and 2.55% of regular smokers, respectively, reported themselves to be never smokers. The concordance ratio, an important parameter in correcting for non-differential misclassification bias, was found to be 5.52. In addition, an indication of substantial differential misclassification was found between exposed and unexposed populations. This type of misclassification bias has previously not been accounted for in the adjustment of epidemiology-based risk assessments of tobacco smoke exposure and lung cancer. Taken together, these data suggest that misclassification bias alone is likely to explain any lung cancer risk elevation observed in the U.S. epidemiology of environmental tobacco smoke exposure among nonsmoking women.

Chemical and Biological Studies of a Cigarette That Heats Rather Than Burns Tobacco

Cigarettes can be developed that heat rather than burn tobacco. Such products would be expected to have less “tar” and other combustion products than cigarettes that burn tobacco. With one product of this type, benzo(a)pyrene, N‐nitrosamines, phenolic compounds, acetaldehyde, acrolein, hydrogen cyanide, and N‐heterocyclic compounds have been reduced 10‐ to 100‐fold compared to the Kentucky reference (1R4F) cigarette, a representative low‐tar cigarette. The yields of nicotine and carbon monoxide from this new cigarette are less than the yields of 95% and 75%, respectively, of the cigarettes sold in the United States during 1988. Nicotine absorption from smoking this new cigarette is not significantly different from that of tobacco‐burning cigarettes yielding equivalent levels of nicotine. The urine mutagenicity of smokers of new cigarettes is significantly less (P < .05) than that of smokers of tobacco‐burning cigarettes and is not significantly different (P > .10) from that of nonsmokers. We conclude that cigarettes which heat rather than burn tobacco can reduce the yield of tobacco combustion products. This simplification of smoke chemistry had no effect on nicotine absorption in smokers and resulted in a reduction of biological activity in smokers as measured by urine mutagenicity.

Chapter 14 – Determination of nicotine and its metabolites in biological fluids: in vivo studies

This chapter reviews the analytical methods used to study the interaction of humans with various tobacco products and nicotine containing medications. The pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of nicotine absorbed from tobacco products and nicotine therapeutic products are discussed. Due to its prolonged half life, cotinine may be used as a biomarker compound, especially related to environmental tobacco smoke exposure, although there are deficiencies with its use for this purpose. Analytical methods are discussed as integral parts of these investigations. Factors concerning the choice of matrix, sample collection, and storage, and analytical method selection are discussed from a perspective of an application of the acquired data. The advantages and disadvantages of numerous analytical methods, as well as method applications are discussed in the chapter. While in some cases it may be appropriate to restrict analysis to one or more analytes, it should be clear that estimates of nicotine intake are best determined by comprehensive methods of analysis that provide information on nicotine and its major metabolites simultaneously. Costly and sophisticated instruments provide the means to perform these measurements in serum, saliva, and urine with high sample efficiency.

Absorption of Nicotine from a Cigarette That Does Not Burn Tobacco

Ten smokers participated in a study to compare the absorption of nicotine from the smoke aerosol of a new cigarette that heats, but does not burn tobacco (test) with a cigarette that burns tobacco (reference). The average plasma nicotine concentrations obtained by the 7th test cigarette (13 ng/ml) and 7th reference cigarette (24 ng/ml) were proportional to the nicotine yielded by the two cigarettes as determined under Federal Trade Commission machine-smoking conditions. These data demonstrate that the smoke aerosol obtained by smoking a cigarette which heats tobacco produces plasma profiles of nicotine that are similar to the profiles obtained from smoking a cigarette that burns tobacco.