Background: many endocrine-metabolic changes are involved in smoking.
Objectives: to evaluate serum concentrations of inflammatory adipokines in smokers at baseline and after four months of treatment for smoking cessation.
Methods: the serum concentrations of inflammatory cytokines were evaluated in smokers and abstinent. Nutritional assessment was based on measurements of body weight, height, and waist circumference (WC), to calculate body mass index (BMI), body adiposity index (BAI) and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR). Biochemical parameters were analyzed: total cholesterol, LDL-c, HDL-c, triglycerides, glucose, cortisol and insulin. The serum levels of leptin, adiponectin and ghrelin were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The leptin/adiponectin ratio (L/A) was calculated.
Results: a total of 29 subjects were included in this study (22 women and seven men). The mean age of participants was 50.7 ± 10.47 years. The medium values of WHtR and BAI were above of the proposed cutoff point, indicating abdominal obesity. The biochemical parameters did not present statistically significant differences when comparing the initial and final values. At the end of treatment, the abstinent had higher levels of adiponectin when compared to those who remained smoker (p = 0.024). There was an increase in leptin levels and L/A, and a reduction in adiponectin levels after the treatment in abstinent and smokers (p < 0.05).
Conclusion: this study has demonstrated that smoking cessation improves adiponectin levels when compared with smokers. Leptin and L/A levels increased throughout the treatment in both groups. The increased values of leptin and L/A in abstinent participants may indicate risk of metabolic events associated with smoking history that should be investigated.