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Gaffar Sarwar Zaman,1 Safar Abadi Saeed Al-Saleem Alshahrani,2 Nasrin Banu Laskar,3 Ibrahim Hadadi,4 Magbool Alelyani,4 Mohamed Adam,4 Mohammed Babiker,5 Mustafa Jafar Musa,6 Pranab Barua,7 Mohammed Elimam Ahamed Mohammed8 1Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia; 2Family & Community Department, College of Medicine, King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia; 3Department of Community Medicine, Sikkim Manipal Institute of Medical Sciences, Sikkim, India; 4Department of Radiological Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia; 5Department of Clinical Biochemistry, College of Medicine, King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia; 6Department of Radiology, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Jeddah University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; 7Department of Statistics, J.B. College, Jorhat, Assam, India; 8Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi ArabiaCorrespondence: Gaffar Sarwar ZamanDepartment of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, College of Applied,Medical Sciences, King Khalid University, P.O. Box: 960, Abha, 61421, Saudi Arabia, Tel +966 509228143, Email drgszaman@gmail.comPurpose: This research examined the association of cigarette smoking and altitude with the blood levels of 25-hydroxy vitamin D, testosterone and carotid artery thickness.Patients and methods: This comparative cross-sectional study involved 37 non-smokers and 24 smokers from a high-altitude area (≥ 2245 m above sea level) and 40 smokers and 40 non-smokers from a low-altitude area (39– 283 m above sea level). The blood testosterone level was determined spectrophotometrically, and the 25-hydroxy vitamin D concentration was measured by ELISA. The IMT of the right and left carotid arteries was determined using ultrasound imaging.Results: Smoking notably elevated the thickness of the intima media of the right and left carotid arteries at both high and low altitudes (p ≤ 0.001). Smoking at high altitude was associated with a significant increase in the concentration of 25-hydroxy vitamin D and testosterone, while at low altitude it was associated with a significant decrease in both parameters (p ≤ 0.046).Conclusion: These contrasting results suggest that future studies should focus on finding out if other biochemical parameters show any significant differences in smokers or/and non-smokers when they are tested at elevated height and sea-level. This indicates that dose modifications of medicines (related to alterations in vitamin D and testosterone levels) should be kept in mind while treating smokers and non-smokers at elevated height above sea level.Keywords: altitude, smoking, aging, body mass index, intima media thickness |
