The combination of cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption synergistically increases reactive carbonyl species in human male plasma

Abstract

Cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption are major risk factors for lifestyle-related diseases. Although it has been reported that the combination of these habits worsens risks, the un-derlying mechanism remains elusive. Reactive carbonyl species (RCS) cause chemical modifications of biological molecules, leading to alterations in cellular signaling pathways, and total RCS levels have been used as a lipid peroxidation marker linked to lifestyle-related diseases. In this study, at least 41 types of RCS were identified in the lipophilic fraction of plasma samples from 40 subjects using liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC/ESI-MS/MS). Higher levels of 10 alkanals, 5 trans-2-alkenals, 1 cis-4-alkenal, and 3 alkadienals were detected in the smoking/drinking group (N = 10) as compared to those with either habit (N = 10 each) or without both habits (N = 10) in the analysis of covariances adjusted for age and BMI. The levels of 3 alkanals, 1 trans-2-alkenal, 1 alkadienal, and 1 4-hydroxy-2-alkenal in the smoking/drinking group were significantly higher than those in the no-smoking/drinking and no-smoking/no-drinking groups. These results strongly indicate that the combination of cigarette smoking and alcohol drinking syner-gistically increases the level and variety of RCS in the circulating blood, and may further jeopardize cellular function.