Plasma Nicotine Levels after Midwakh Smoking and its acute effects

<bold>Introduction:</bold> We assess the acute effect of Midwakh smoking on cardiovascular and respiratory system among adults. <bold>Materials & Methods:</bold> This cross-sectional study was carried out in 9 participants at Sleep Disorders Specialized Clinic. Data was collected from all the participants about their health, smoking habits, physical activity, and Hooked on Nicotine Checklist (HONC) questionnaire etc. Physiological parameters: for all the participants at pre- and post-smoking. The blood sample (5-10ml) was collected from the subject at pre- and 5min post-smoking to determine the levels of nicotine and cotinine using HPLC technique. <bold>Results:</bold> The mean age of the participants was 35.2±10.2 yrs, and mean age for starting Midwakh smoking was 20.33±8.5yrs. The HONC questionnaire showed the mean score of 7.55±2.69. There was a significant change in SBP, DBP, SPO2, PR, PI, SPCO%, SPHgb (p<0.001) pre- and post-smoking. The HRV parameters as PNS Index, SNS Index, SDNN, RMSSD, NN50, SNS Stress Index (p<0.001) also showed a significant change pre- and post-smoking. The pulmonary function showed significant changes in FVC, FEVI and FEF2575 pre- and post-smoking(p<0.001). The plasma levels for nicotine showed a significant increase from14.67±9.73 to 28.18±12.92ng/ml from baseline to 5 min (p=0.004). The cotinine, metabolite of nicotine showed a significant decrease in levels from 303.06±141.87 vs 281.16±119.37ng/ml, p<0.001. <bold>Conclusion:</bold> This study for the first time showed the changes in the blood levels for nicotine and cotinine among the Midwakh smokers. The study also correlated the differences in cardiovascular and pulmonary function in both pre- and post-smoking.