Objective: To compare enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant levels and serum cytokine profile between smoker and non-smoker groups and to investigate the correlations between cytokine and antioxidant status and various characteristics of smoking consumption in Thai males.

Materials and Methods: The present cross-sectional study enrolled 182 Thai males (100 smokers and 82 non-smokers). Each subject was tested for erythrocyte superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX), vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α).

Results: Smokers had significantly lower vitamin C, vitamin E, and SOD levels than non-smokers, whereas IL-6 levels were significantly higher in smokers than non-smokers. Vitamin C, vitamin E, and SOD levels was significantly negatively correlated with cigarette pack-years, duration of smoking, and numbers of cigarette per day, whereas IL-6 and TNF-α levels were significantly positively correlated among various characteristics of smoking consumption. After adjusting for potential covariates, the authors found decreased values of vitamin C and vitamin E whereas increased values of IL-6 were still significantly associated with smoking (p<0.05).

Conclusion: These findings suggest the alterative values of antioxidant and cytokine biomarkers related to cigarette smoking in Thai males where smokers may be more likely to have weakening of the antioxidant defense systems and the modifying immune response.

Keywords: Smoking, Antioxidant status, Cytokines, Thai

Received 4 Jun 2018 | Revised 1 Nov 2019 | Accepted 8 Nov 2019