Comparison between Homocysteine, Fibrinogen, PT, PTT, INR and CRP in Male Smokers with/without Addiction to Opium

BACKGROUND: Regarding the limited studies about effects of addiction on coagulation factors as a risk factor for increasing coagulation, and its relation to coronary artery disease, we decided to investigate the effect of opium on inflammatory and coagulation factors in a controlled setting. METHODS: This case-control study was performed using two groups of smoking males addicted to opium (27 cases) and not addicted to opium (27 cases). After collecting demographic data, venous blood samples were gathered and sent to laboratory for measuring homocysteine, fibrinogen, prothrombin time (PT), partial thromboplastin time (PTT), International Normalized Ratio (INR), and C-reactive protein (CRP) quantity. In order to analyze the data, we used independent t-test plus Mann-Whitney test with significance level of P < 0.05. FINDINGS: The average age in this study was 32.2 ± 6.2 in case group and 33.3 ± 6.2 in control group. Comparing case and control groups regarding age and education showed no significant difference (P = 0.598 and P = 0.848, respectively). Mean daily smoking in case group was 7.9 ± 5.4 and 8.1 ± 5.0 in control group. Mean smoking duration in case group and control group was 10.1 ± 6.5 and 9.0 ± 7.2 years, respectively. There was no significant difference between two groups regarding smoking duration (P = 0.567). Comparison of inflammatory and coagulation factors showed no significant difference except for CRP and fibrinogen for which P = 0.661 and P = 0.889, respectively. Consumption-based comparison of inflammatory and coagulation factors showed no significant difference except for PT in oral and inhaled consumptions which showed a significant difference (P = 0.035). CONCLUSION: Results of this study suggest that opium addiction can be an influential factor in blood parameters and can lead to inflammatory and coagulation processes complications.