Cigarette smoking is associated with dose-dependent adverse effects on paraoxonase activity and fibrinogen in young women

CONTEXT: Smoking is associated with increased fibrinogen and decreased paraoxonase (PON) activity, markers of inflammation and oxidative stress, in patients with coronary artery disease. OBJECTIVE: We tested the hypothesis that the adverse effect of smoking on these biomarkers of inflammation and oxidative stress would be detectable in otherwise healthy young female habitual smokers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-eight young women participated in the study (n = 20 habitual smokers, n = 18 non-smokers). Fibrinogen, PON-1 activity and HDL oxidant index (HOI) were measured. RESULTS: Mean values of fibrinogen, PON-1 activity and log HOI were not different between the groups. Importantly, however, decreased PON-1 activity (r (s) = −0.51, p = 0.03) and increased fibrinogen (r(s) = 0.49, p = 0.04) were significantly correlated with increasing number of cigarettes smoked per day in habitual smokers. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Cigarette smoking is associated with a dose-dependent adverse effect on PON-1 activity and fibrinogen in young women, which may have implications for future cardiovascular risk.