Inflammatory marker levels in children with tobacco smoke exposure

• Published in: Cytokine (Philadelphia, Pa.) Pa.), 2024-01, Vol.173, p.156448, Article 156448
• Main Authors: Mahabee-Gittens, E Melinda, Matt, Georg E, Mazzella, Matthew J, Doucette, John T, Ratnani, Parita, Merianos, Ashley L
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: C-Reactive Protein; Child; Child, Preschool; Cotinine - analysis; Cotinine - metabolism; Humans; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Interleukin-10; Interleukin-8; Tobacco Smoke Pollution - adverse effects; Tobacco Smoke Pollution - analysis
• ISSN: 1043-4666; 1096-0023; 1096-0023
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cyto.2023.156448

Tobacco smoke exposure (TSE) has inflammatory and immunosuppressive effects which may be associated with altered levels of inflammatory markers and pediatric illnesses. The primary objective was to examine the associations of cotinine-confirmed and parent-reported child TSE patterns and discharge diagnoses with C-reactive protein (CRP), IL-8, and IL-10 in 0-11-year-old pediatric emergency department (PED) patients who lived with ≥ 1 smoker. Saliva samples were obtained from 115 children with a mean (SD) age of 3.5 (3.1) years during the PED visit (T0). Saliva was analyzed for cotinine, CRP, IL-8, and IL-10. Parents self-reported their children's TSE patterns; children's medical records were reviewed to identify and categorize discharge diagnoses. Linear regression models were utilized to find T0 associations of cotinine-confirmed and parent-reported child TSE patterns, and PED diagnoses with each inflammatory marker. All models were adjusted for child race/ethnicity, child sex, annual household income, and housing type. The TSE models also adjusted for child discharge diagnosis. At T0, the geometric mean (GeoM) of cotinine was 4.1 ng/ml [95 %CI = 3.2-5.2]; the GeoMs of CRP, IL-8, and IL-10 were 3,326 pg/ml [95 %CI = 2,696-4,105], 474 pg/ml [95 %CI = 386-583], and 1.1 pg/ml [95 %CI = 0.9-1.3], respectively. Parent-reported child TSE patterns were positively associated with ln-transformed CRP levels, while adjusting for the covariates (β^ = 0.012 [95 %CI:0.004-0.020], p = 0.037). In the parent-reported child TSE pattern model, there were significant positive associations between the covariate of child age with CRP and IL-8 levels (p = 0.028 and p