Acute Effects of Nicotine on Arterial Stiffness and Wave Reflection in Healthy Young Non‐smokers

Abstract

1. Recently, we have demonstrated that cigarette smoke exposure proportionally increases plasma nicotine levels and arterial wave reflection to the aorta. However, the exact contribution of nicotine to the smoke-induced enhancement of wave reflection and the potential underlying mechanisms have not been fully investigated. 2. The present study was a prospective study in 15 healthy male non-smokers. All received a placebo and a 2 mg nicotine tablet, according to a randomized double-blind cross-over study design. Each subject underwent repeated measurements at baseline and for 1 h after nicotine or placebo intake, using carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV) to assess arterial compliance. Concurrently, aortic pressures and the augmentation index were evaluated using applanation tonometry. 3. Plasma nicotine concentrations achieved 1 h after intake of the nicotine tablet reached comparable levels to those achieved after 1 h exposure to passive smoke (3.6 +/- 0.4 vs 3.2 +/- 0.4 ng/mL, respectively; P = 0.4). 4. Nicotine enhanced arterial wave reflection to the aorta, as assessed by the augmentation index corrected for heart rate (4.2 +/- 1.3 vs-0.7 +/- 0.8% with placebo; P = 0.001). In addition, a progressive increase in carotid-femoral PWV was noted after nicotine administration (0.3 +/- 0.1 vs-0.02 +/- 0.1 m/s with placebo; P = 0.04). This remained significant even after adjustment for changes in mean blood pressure and heart rate (P = 0.01). 5. Plasma nicotine concentrations comparable to those achieved after exposure to passive smoke enhance arterial wave reflection to the aorta. This is accompanied by an increase in carotid-femoral PWV, denoting a deterioration of arterial compliance by nicotine.

Environmental determinants of blood pressure, arterial stiffness, and central hemodynamics

“…In the morning of a separate day, all individuals underwent a complete arterial properties assessment comprising peripheral arterial blood pressure measurements, arterial-stiffness evaluation and aortic-pressure waveform analysis (methods described elsewhere in details [12,13]). All participants were advised to abstain from caffeine or alcohol containing beverages and smoking for at least 3 h prior to the study.…”

Genome-Wide Expression Analysis Reveals Diverse Effects of Acute Nicotine Exposure on Neuronal Function-Related Genes and Pathways

“…For example, in humans, acute nicotine exposure, while significantly increasing the plasma nicotine concentration (Argacha et al, 2008), modulates a series of physiological processes such as aortic wave reflection, arterial stiffness, and plasma asymmetrical dimethylarginine (ADMA) concentration (Adamopoulos et al, 2009). Experimentally, acute nicotine administration can significantly increase activation in multiple regions of mouse brain (Suarez et al, 2009) and induce spinal motor circuit output in embryonic zebrafish (Thomas et al, 2008).…”

Quitting Smoking: An Action That Does Not Bounce Back

“…Given that, first, nicotine increases wave reflections [13] and, second, cotinine (a nicotine metabolite) levels were reduced at the end of the 8-week period, this finding denotes that nicotine enhances wave reflections in a dose-dependent manner.…”