The assessment of systemic inflammatory response in apparently healthy adult smokers in Nnewi, South East Nigeria

Background: Induction of systemic inflammation is thought to underlie major organ dysfunction in cigarette smokers. Objective: The objective of the study is to estimate the levels of inflammatory markers (the leukocyte count and C-reactive protein [CRP]) in adult smokers in Nnewi metropolis, South East Nigeria. Subjects and Methods: A total of 120 adults, comprising of 60 smokers and age-matched nonsmokers, respectively were recruited. Five millilitre of venous blood was collected from each participant, of which 2 ml was used for full blood count estimation, using the Sysmex NX® hematology analyzer, while 3 ml was dispensed into plain tube and serum was extracted for CRP measurement, using the ELISA technique. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS (version 20), the students t-test was used for the comparison of means, and level of statistical significance set at (P < 0.05). Results: The serum CRP level was significantly higher in smokers compared with controls (P < 0.001) and the neutrophil count, neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and CRP were significantly higher in study individuals with smoking history of >5 years, compared with those whose smoking history was <5 years (P = 0.001, 0.001, and <0.001, respectively). The white cell count, eosinophil count, and serum CRP levels were significantly higher in individuals who smoked >5 sticks of cigarettes in 1 month (P = 0.023, 0.004, and