Biomarkers of exposure in urine of active smokers, non-smokers, and vapers

Abstract

The exposure to smoking related products has been evaluated through urine illness risk marker determination through the analysis of urine samples of smokers and vapers. Biomarkers and their metabolites such as N-acetyl-S-(2-cyanoethyl)-L-cysteine (CEMA), N-acetyl-S-(3,4-dihydroxybutyl)-L-cysteine (DHBMA), N-acetyl-S-[1-(hydroxymethyl)-2-propen-1-yl)-L-cysteine (MHBMA), N-acetyl-S-(3-hydroxypropyl)-L-cysteine (3HPMA), 2R-N-acetyl-S-(4-hydroxybutan-2-yl)-L-cysteine (HMPMA), and N-acetyl-S-(3-carboxy-2-propyl)-L-cysteine (CMEMA) together with nicotine and cotinine were identified and quantified by LC-HRMS and LC-MS/MS, and data found normalized to the creatinine level. One hundred two urine samples were collected from smokers, non-smokers, and vapers, spanning an age range from 16 to 79 years. Results obtained showed that CEMA was only detected in urine samples from smokers and MHBMA was in the same order of magnitude in all the urine samples analyzed. HMPMA was found in the urine of vapers at the same order of concentration as in non-smokers. 3HPMA in vapers was lower than in the urine of smokers, presenting an intermediate situation between smokers and non-smokers. On the other hand, DHBMA in vapers can reach similar values to those found for smokers, while CMEMA shows concentrations in the urine of vapers higher than in the case of non-smokers and traditional smokers, requiring new research to link this metabolite to the use of electronic cigarettes and possible alternative metabolomic routes. In general, this study seems to verify that traditional smoking practice constitutes a major source of carcinogenic chemicals compared with substitutive practices, although those practices are not free of potential harm. Graphical abstract

The chemical memory of smoking tobacco

“…In a previous study, 11 we evaluated exposure to tobacco and nicotine vaping through the urine control of six metabolites of acrylonitrile, acrolein and crotonaldehyde in urine samples of active traditional smokers, past strong smokers who moved to vaping, and non-smokers, which confirmed that N -acetyl- S -(2-cyanoethyl)- l -cysteine (CEMA) is present only in active smokers and that levels of 2 R-N -acetyl- S -(4-hydroxybutan-2-yl)- l -cysteine (HMPMA) and N -acetyl- S -[1-(hydroxymethyl)-2-propen-1-yl)]- l -cysteine (MHBMA) in vapers' urine are at the same level of magnitude as smokers and non-smokers. The level of N -acetyl- S -(3,4-dihydroxybutyl)- l -cysteine (DHBMA) in the urine of previous smokers reached similar values to those determined in non-smokers and it was also observed that levels of N -acetyl-hydroxy-propyl-cisteine (3HPMA) in urine showed a strong reduction on moving from smoking to vaping.…”