Comparison of self-reports and biological measures for alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs consumption in psychiatric inpatients

BACKGROUND: Asking psychiatric in-patients about their drug consumption is unlikely to yield reliable results, particularly where alcohol and illicit drug use is involved. The main aim of this study was to compare spontaneous self-reports of drug use in hospitalized psychiatric patients to biological measures of same. A secondary aim was to determine which personal factors were associated with the use of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs as indicated by these biological measures. METHODS: The consumption of substances was investigated using biological measures (urine cotinine, cannabis, opiates, cocaine, amphetamines and barbiturates; blood carbohydrate-deficient transferrin [CDT] and gamma-glutamyl transferase [GGT]) in 486 consecutively admitted psychiatric patients, one day following their hospitalization. Patients' self-reports of alcohol, tobacco and illicit drugs consumption were recorded. Socio-professional and familial data were also recorded. RESULTS: The results show a low correlation between biological measures and self-reported consumption of alcohol and illicit drugs. Fifty-two percent of the patients under-reported their consumption of illicit drugs (kappa=.47). Patients with schizophrenia and personality disorders were more likely to disclose their illicit drug consumption relative to patients suffering from mood disorders and alcohol dependence. Fifty-six percent of patients underreported alcohol use, as evaluated by CDT (kappa=.2), and 37% underreported when using the CDT+GGT measure as an indicator. Smoking appeared to be reported adequately. In the study we observed a strong negative correlation between cannabis use and age, a strong correlation between tobacco and cannabis use, and correlations between tobacco, cannabis and alcohol consumption. CONCLUSION: This study is the first to compare self-reports and biological measures of alcohol, tobacco and illicit drug uses in a large sample of inpatients suffering from various categories of psychiatric illnesses, allowing for cross-diagnosis comparisons.     

Determinants of plasma concentrations of nicotine and cotinine during cigarette smoking and transdermal nicotine treatment

Objective: Interindividual variability in plasma concentrations of nicotine and its proximate metabolite, cotinine, is considerable during smoking and transdermal nicotine treatment, even among individuals taking in nominally similar doses of nicotine. This report explores the determinants of this variability and the utility of baseline (smoking) plasma concentrations to predict concentrations during transdermal nicotine treatment. Methods: Data were analysed from a smoking cessation study (n = 466), and from a pharmacokinetic study (n = 12). Multiple regression models examined the relationships of plasma concentrations to individual characteristics such as smoking pattern, absorbed dose of nicotine, and pharmacokinetic parameters. Results: Plasma concentrations of nicotine and cotinine were highly variable in both studies. Indirect estimates of plasma clearance (baseline plasma concentration divided by cigarettes per day) together with other factors could account for 18 to 33% of the variability during transdermal nicotine treatment in the smoking cessation study. In contrast, 75 to 99% was accounted for by direct measurements of plasma clearances and systemic dose of nicotine in the pharmacokinetic study. Conclusion: Plasma concentrations of nicotine and cotinine during transdermal nicotine treatment are poorly predicted by clinical history or baseline plasma concentrations. This is a result of inadequate characterisation of highly variable individual pharmacokinetic parameters and absorbed dose of nicotine. Considering the interindividual variability of plasma nicotine and cotinine concentrations together with the lack of clinical end-points for transdermal nicotine dosing, it seems logical to investigate the utility of a therapeutic drug monitoring approach for transdermal nicotine treatment – particularly for high dose regimens (> 22 mg per 24 hours). Received: 7 May 1996 / Accepted in revised form: 21 August 1996     

Cotinine determination by immunoassays may be influenced by other nicotine metabolites

Polyclonal rabbit anticotinine antiserum, which can be used for biomonitoring nicotine uptake by the determination of cotinine in body fluids, was checked by a competitive ELISA for its cross-reactivity with nine nicotine metabolites. The highest percentage of relative crossreactivity (about 30%) was observed with trans-3-hydroxycotinine, a metabolite which is known to be excreted in 3-fold higher amounts than cotinine in the urine of human smokers. Therefore, it is possible that cotinine determinations performed by immunochemical methods — especially in urine — may yield overestimated cotinine concentrations.     

Stereospecific monoclonal antibodies to nicotine and cotinine and their use in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays

Stereospecific monoclonal antibodies (McAb) have been prepared against the tobacco alkaloid (S)-(-)-nicotine and its major metabolite (S)-(-)-cotinine. Nine anti-nicotine and 4 anti-cotinine hybridomas, selected by a screening procedure that utilized immunoprecipitation of the ³H-labeled natural isomers of nicotine or cotinine, were grown in the ascites fluid of pristane-primed syngeneic BALB/c mice. Antibodies in concentrations up to 7.5 mg/ml ascites and with binding affinities that generally exceeded 10⁸ M⁻¹ were obtained. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) were developed in which nicotine or cotinine derivatives bound covalently to poly- -lysine werecoated onto wells of polyvinyl chloride microtiter plates. Coated wells were incubated sequentially with McAb in the presence or absence of inhibitor, rabbit anti-mouse immunoglobulin, then horseradish peroxidase-labeled protein A (HRP-SpA) before addition of substrate. The antibodies are highly specific and show minimal cross-reactivity with several nicotine metabolites and other structurally related compounds. In the respective assays, only 0.25 ng (S)-(-)-nicotine and 0.12 ng (S)-(-)-cotinine are required to give 50% inhibition of antibody binding, and as little as 0.05 ng nicotine and 0.02 ng cotinine give 15% inhibition. These assays are 5–10 times more sensitive than analogous ELISAs developed with rabbit antisera and HRP-SpA or conventional radioimmunoassays (RIAs) that utilize the rabbit antisera and ³H-labeled ligands. There was good correlation between the levels of nicotine (r = 0.967) found in saliva samples from smokers and non-smokers assayed by McAb-based ELISAs and conventional RIAs.     

尿中尼古丁代谢产物Cotinine含量的测定

目的：探索一种灵敏准确的测定尿中cotinine的方法。方法：酸水解后直接用HPLC法测定Cotinine。结果：Cotinine的最低检出限在0．32μmol／L，回收率在76．7％-85．4％之间。结论：该实验方法简单，准确度与精密度高，能在日常测定中应用。     

How does tobacco smoke influence the morphometry of the fetus and the umbilical cord?—Research on pregnant women with intrauterine growth restriction exposed to tobacco smoke

Proper structure of the umbilical cord is important for the fetal development. We evaluated effects of toxic factors from tobacco smoke on fetal and umbilical cord morphometry. 109 women in weeks 29–40 of pregnancy (31 smokers with intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR); 28 non-smoking women with IUGR; 50 healthy pregnancies) were included. In smokers with IUGR, cotinine, cadmium and lead concentrations were significantly higher than in controls (mean 55.23 ng/l; 1.52 ng/ml; 14.85 ng/ml vs 1.07; 0.34; 9.42) and inverse correlation between lead concentration and uncoiled umbilical cord was significant (r = −0.80). In smokers with IUGR, area of Wharton’s jelly was increased compared to nonsmokers and controls. Inverse correlations occurred between cotinine and cadmium concentration and fetal percentile in smokers (r = −0.87; r = −0.87) and non-smokers (r = −0.47; r = −0.78) with IUGR. Exposure to tobacco smoke measured by cotinine, cadmium and lead concentration has an impact on fetal growth and umbilical cord morphometry and correlates with intensity of IUGR.     

Salivary Cotinine Concentrations and Prevalence of Periodontal Disease in Young Japanese Women: The Kyushu Okinawa Maternal and Child Health Study

Background: The authors investigated the relationship between objectively assessed tobacco smoke exposure and periodontal disease. Methods: This cross‐sectional study included 1,103 women with a mean age of 31.5 years. Information on potential confounding factors was obtained through a self‐administered questionnaire. Periodontal disease was defined as positive if a woman had at least one tooth with a probing depth of ≥3.5 mm. Exposure to tobacco smoke was determined based on salivary cotinine concentration. Adjustment was made for age, region of residence, household income, education, toothbrushing frequency, and use of an interdental brush. Results: The prevalence of periodontal disease was 11.3%. Salivary cotinine concentration was independently positively associated with the prevalence of periodontal disease: the adjusted odds ratio for every 1‐unit (ng/mL) increase in salivary cotinine was 1.004 (95% confidence interval: 1.000 to 1.007). Conclusion: Salivary cotinine concentrations were positively associated with the prevalence of periodontal disease among young women.     

血清可替宁水平与冠心病的关系

目的研究血清可替宁水平与冠心病的关系,探讨其在冠心病中的临床应用价值。方法按冠状动脉造影结果将149例研究对象分为冠心病组(97例)和非冠心病对照组(52例),进行病例对照研究,同位素稀释串联质谱法(isotope dilution tandem mass spectrometry,ID-LC/MS/MS)测定血清可替宁浓度,分析可替宁与冠心病及其他危险因素的关系。结果 149例行冠状动脉造影患者血清可替宁浓度呈偏态和尖态分布(偏度2.90,峰度7.96),吸烟者的可替宁浓度为12.64(0.91～99.61)μg/L,显著高于非吸烟者[0.22(0.12～0.51)μg/L,P<0.001]。高可替宁水平组(>10.00μg/L)患冠心病的风险显著高于低可替宁水平组(<1.00μg/L)(OR=2.94,95%CI:1.11～7.78,P<0.05);且随着血清可替宁水平的升高,OR值增大呈量效关系(均为P<0.05)。多因素Logistic回归分析显示,糖尿病、血脂异常及可替宁为最显著的危险因素(均为P<0.05)。血清可替宁与吸烟(r=0.656,P<0.001)和白细胞计数(WBC,r=0.257,P=0.010)呈显著正相关,与HDL-C(r=-0.184,P=0.025)和HDL2-C(r=-0.217,P=0.008)呈显著负相关。结论血清可替宁水平能够有效地反映吸烟的暴露水平,其水平升高能够增加患冠心病的危险。