Cardiovascular Effects of Long-Term Cigarette Smoking and Nicotine Administration S. SULTAN AHMED, MD, FRCP (C) CHRISTOS 6. MOSCHOS, MD, FACC MICHAEL M. LYONS, MD HENRY
A.
RICHARD TIMOTHY
OLDEWURTEL J. COUMBIS, MD J. REGAN, MD, FACC
with the technical assistance of BESS
JENKINS
Newark,
New Jersey
From the Departments of Medicine and Pathology, College of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, New Jersey Medical School, Newark, N. J. This investigation was supported in part by Research Grant 889 from the Council for Tobacco Research-U.S.A., Inc., New York, N. Y. and a research grant from the American Medical Association Education and Research Foundation, Chicago, Ill. The data were presented in part in the finals of the Young Investigators’ Award Competition, 24th Annual Scientific Session of the American College of Cardiology, Houston, Texas, 1975. Manuscript accepted June 4. 1975. Address for reprints: S. Sultan Ahmed, MD, New Jersey Medical School, Department of Medicine, 100 Bergen St., Newark, N. J. 67103.
The nature of the cardiovascular risk in cigarette smokers has not been characterized. To compare the relative effects of long-term smoking and nicotine administration on the cardiovascular system, 18 month old beagle littermates were prepared with a permanent tracheostomy. They were classified into three groups: I, seven control dogs; II, nine dogs that smoked seven cigarettes/day; and III, eight dogs that received an equivalent amount of nicotine. After a period of up to 22 months, the animals were catheterized under anesthesia for assessment of left ventricular function and volumes by indicator-dilution technique. Heart rate, stroke volume, left ventricular end-diastolic pressure and volume and intraventricular conduction times did not differ significantly in the three groups. Lefl ventricular ejection fraction was 44 i 3 percent (mean f standard error of the mean) in the control group, 35 f 3 percent in the dogs that smoked cigarettes (P
A.
RICHARD TIMOTHY
OLDEWURTEL J. COUMBIS, MD J. REGAN, MD, FACC
with the technical assistance of BESS
JENKINS
Newark,
New Jersey
From the Departments of Medicine and Pathology, College of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, New Jersey Medical School, Newark, N. J. This investigation was supported in part by Research Grant 889 from the Council for Tobacco Research-U.S.A., Inc., New York, N. Y. and a research grant from the American Medical Association Education and Research Foundation, Chicago, Ill. The data were presented in part in the finals of the Young Investigators’ Award Competition, 24th Annual Scientific Session of the American College of Cardiology, Houston, Texas, 1975. Manuscript accepted June 4. 1975. Address for reprints: S. Sultan Ahmed, MD, New Jersey Medical School, Department of Medicine, 100 Bergen St., Newark, N. J. 67103.
The nature of the cardiovascular risk in cigarette smokers has not been characterized. To compare the relative effects of long-term smoking and nicotine administration on the cardiovascular system, 18 month old beagle littermates were prepared with a permanent tracheostomy. They were classified into three groups: I, seven control dogs; II, nine dogs that smoked seven cigarettes/day; and III, eight dogs that received an equivalent amount of nicotine. After a period of up to 22 months, the animals were catheterized under anesthesia for assessment of left ventricular function and volumes by indicator-dilution technique. Heart rate, stroke volume, left ventricular end-diastolic pressure and volume and intraventricular conduction times did not differ significantly in the three groups. Lefl ventricular ejection fraction was 44 i 3 percent (mean f standard error of the mean) in the control group, 35 f 3 percent in the dogs that smoked cigarettes (P
