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Monitoring nicotine intake from e-cigarettes: measurement of parent drug and metabolites in oral fluid and plasma

  • Esther Papaseit , Magí Farré , Silvia Graziano , Roberta Pacifici , Clara Pérez-Mañá , Oscar García-Algar and Simona Pichini EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: August 25, 2016
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Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (CCLM)
From the journal Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (CCLM) Volume 55 Issue 3

Abstract

Background:

Electronic cigarettes (e-cig) known as electronic nicotine devices recently gained popularity among smokers. Despite many studies investigating their safety and toxicity, few examined the delivery of e-cig-derived nicotine and its metabolites in alternative biological fluids.

Methods:

We performed a randomized, crossover, and controlled clinical trial in nine healthy smokers. Nicotine (NIC), cotinine (COT), and trans-3′-hydroxycotinine (3-HCOT) were measured in plasma and oral fluid by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry after consumption of two consecutive e-cig administrations or two consecutive tobacco cigarettes.

Results:

NIC and its metabolites were detected both in oral fluid and plasma following both administration conditions. Concentrations in oral fluid resulted various orders of magnitude higher than those observed in plasma. Oral fluid concentration of tobacco cigarette and e-cig-derived NIC peaked at 15 min after each administration and ranged between 1.0 and 1396 μg/L and from 0.3 to 860 μg/L; those of COT between 52.8 and 110 μg/L and from 33.8 to 94.7 μg/L; and those of 3-HCOT between 12.4 and 23.5 μg/L and from 8.5 to 24.4 μg/L. The oral fluid to plasma concentration ratio of both e-cig- and tobacco cigarette-derived NIC peaked at 15 min after both administrations and correlated with oral fluid NIC concentration.

Conclusions:

The obtained results support the measurement of NIC and metabolites in oral fluid in the assessment of intake after e-cig use and appear to be a suitable alternative to plasma when monitoring nicotine delivery from e-cig for clinical and toxicological studies.

Keywords: cotinine; e-cig; nicotine; oral fluid; pharmacokinetics; plasma; trans-3′-hydroxycotinine

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Dr. Manuela Pellegrini, Dr. Renata Solimini, Dr. Adele Minutillo, Dr. Emilia Marchei and Dr. Maria Concetta Rotolo for their technical assistance and Esther Menoyo, RN, Marta Pérez, RN, Soraya Martín, RN, Clara Gibert, RN, and Dr. Julian Mateus for their valuable assistance throughout the clinical trial.

  1. Author contributions: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.

  2. Research funding: Rio Hortega fellow.

  3. Employment or leadership: None declared.

  4. Honorarium: None declared.

  5. Competing interests: The funding organization(s) played no role in the study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the report for publication.

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Supplemental Material:

The online version of this article (DOI: 10.1515/cclm-2016-0405) offers supplementary material, available to authorized users.

Received: 2016-5-9
Accepted: 2016-7-19
Published Online: 2016-8-25
Published in Print: 2017-3-1

©2017 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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https://doi.org/10.1515/cclm-2016-0405
Keywords for this article
cotinine; e-cig; nicotine; oral fluid; pharmacokinetics; plasma; trans-3′-hydroxycotinine

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Editorials
  3. Targeting errors in microbiology: the case of the Gram stain
  4. Time for a holistic approach and standardization education in laboratory medicine
  5. Reviews
  6. Serum uric acid levels and risk of prehypertension: a meta-analysis
  7. Lactic acidosis: an update
  8. Mini Review
  9. Progress and impact of enzyme measurement standardization
  10. Opinion Paper
  11. Critical comments to a recent EFLM recommendation for the review of reference intervals
  12. IFCC Paper
  13. Quality Indicators in Laboratory Medicine: the status of the progress of IFCC Working Group “Laboratory Errors and Patient Safety” project
  14. Genetics and Molecular Diagnostics
  15. Evaluation and comparison of three assays for molecular detection of spinal muscular atrophy
  16. General Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine
  17. Risk analysis of the preanalytical process based on quality indicators data
  18. Analytical and clinical validation of the new Abbot Architect 25(OH)D assay: fit for purpose?
  19. Looking beyond linear regression and Bland-Altman plots: a comparison of the clinical performance of 25-hydroxyvitamin D tests
  20. Next-generation osmotic gradient ektacytometry for the diagnosis of hereditary spherocytosis: interlaboratory method validation and experience
  21. Diagnosis of sphingolipidoses: a new simultaneous measurement of lysosphingolipids by LC-MS/MS
  22. Monitoring nicotine intake from e-cigarettes: measurement of parent drug and metabolites in oral fluid and plasma
  23. Development of a rapid and quantitative lateral flow assay for the simultaneous measurement of serum κ and λ immunoglobulin free light chains (FLC): inception of a new near-patient FLC screening tool
  24. A real-world evidence-based approach to laboratory reorganization using e-Valuate benchmarking data
  25. Cancer Diagnostics
  26. Utility of proGRP as a tumor marker in the medullary thyroid carcinoma
  27. Cardiovascular Diseases
  28. Can non-cholesterol sterols and lipoprotein subclasses distribution predict different patterns of cholesterol metabolism and statin therapy response?
  29. Infectious Diseases
  30. Improving Gram stain proficiency in hospital and satellite laboratories that do not have microbiology
  31. Diabetes
  32. Volumetric absorptive microsampling at home as an alternative tool for the monitoring of HbA1c in diabetes patients
  33. Corrigendum
  34. EFLM Recommendation
  35. Corrigendum to: Recommendation for the review of biological reference intervals in medical laboratories
  36. Letters to the Editor
  37. Evaluation of the trueness of serum alkaline phosphatase measurement in a group of Italian laboratories
  38. Innovative software for recording preanalytical errors in accord with the IFCC quality indicators
  39. Mixing studies for abnormal coagulation screen – the current trend
  40. Identification of 5-fluorocytosine as a new interfering compound in serum capillary zone electrophoresis
  41. How to define reference intervals to rule in healthy individuals for clinical trials?
  42. Evaluation of the performance of INDEXOR® in the archive unit of a clinical laboratory: a step to Lean laboratory
  43. Evaluation of an automated chemiluminescent immunoassay for salivary cortisol measurement. Utility in the diagnosis of Cushing’s syndrome
  44. Analysis of hemolysis, icterus and lipemia in arterial blood gas specimens
  45. Comparison of three routine insulin immunoassays: implications for assessment of insulin sensitivity and response
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