Affiliations: International Epidemiology Institute, Rockville, MD,
USA | Division of Epidemiology, Department of Medicine,
Vanderbilt University, and the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Nashville, TN,
USA
Note: [] Corresponding author: Lisa B. Signorello, Sc.D. International
Epidemiology Institute, 1455 Research Blvd., Suite 550, Rockville, MD 20850,
USA. Tel.: +1 301 279 4272; Fax: +1 301 424 1053; E-mail: Lisa.Signorello@intepi.org
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to estimate black/white differences in
cotinine levels for current smokers of both sexes, and to explore the potential
contribution of mentholated cigarettes to these differences. Sera from 255
current smokers sampled from Southern Community Cohort Study participants (65
black men, 65 black women, 63 white men, 62 white women) were analyzed for
cotinine, and linear regression was used to model the effect of race on
cotinine level, adjusting for the number of cigarettes smoked within the last
24 hours, use of menthol vs. non-menthol cigarettes, exposure to environmental
tobacco smoke, and age. Black smokers smoked fewer cigarettes than white
smokers, yet had crude mean cotinine levels nearly as high or higher than white
smokers. After multivariate adjustment, cotinine levels were an average of 50
ng/ml higher among black than white women (p=0.008) and
non-significantly 12 ng/ml higher among black than white men (p=0.52). We observed no increase in cotinine levels associated with
menthol cigarette use. We conclude that differences in cotinine levels among
smokers suggest racial variation in exposure to and/or metabolism of tobacco
smoke constituents, but our findings do not support a role for menthol
preference in this disparity.
