Evaluation of oxidative stress and whole blood viscosity for clinical laboratory testing of smoking toxicity

Background: There are no clearly established clinical biochemical markers for cigarette smoking despite the knowledge that cigarette smoking is a risk factor for various diseases, especially cardiovascular complications of respiratory pathologies. However, there are reports of significant increases in blood viscosity and oxidative stress among smokers. The main objective of the study was to ascertain the association of toxicity from cigarette smoking on whole blood viscosity in our data.Methods: This study analysed the archived clinical data of 20 cigarette smokers and 20 apparently healthy individuals.Results: The data show that on average, oxidative stress levels are relatively the same between groups, while whole blood viscosity is statistically significantly lower in non-smokers compared to smokers.Conclusions: This report suggests that oxidative stress induced whole blood hyper-viscosity could be a valid biomarker for laboratory testing of smoking toxicity among cigarette smokers