Scientists at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have found new evidence about the potential health risks of chemicals in tobacco smoke and marijuana.
In a study published online today by EClinicalMedicine, the researchers report that people who smoked marijuana had several toxic chemicals associated with smoke in the blood and urine, but at lower levels than those who smoked both tobacco and marijuana or tobacco only. Two of these chemicals, acrylonitrile and acrylamide, are known to be toxic at high levels. The researchers also found that exposure to acrolein, a chemical extracted with a variety of substances, increases with tobacco smoking but not marijuana smoking and contributes to cardiovascular disease in those who smoke. tobacco smoke.
The findings indicate that high acrolein levels may be an indication of an increased risk for cardiovascular disease and that reduced exposure to the chemical may reduce that risk. This is especially important for people living with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, with high levels of tobacco smoking and an increased risk of heart disease in this group.
“Marijuana use is on the rise in the United States with a growing number of states making it legal for both medical and non-medical purposes – including five more states in the 2020 election. raising renewed concerns about the potential health effects of marijuana smoke, which is known to contain some of the same toxic burners in tobacco smoke, “said senior study author Dana Gabuzda, MD. of Dana-Farber. “This is the first study to compare exposure to acrolein and other harmful chemicals associated with smoke over time in obese marijuana smokers and tobacco smokers, and to see if the exposures that’s related to cardiovascular disease. “
The study included 245 HIV-positive and HIV-negative participants in three studies of HIV infection in the United States. (Studies involving people with HIV infection due to high levels of tobacco and marijuana smoking were used in this group.) The researchers collected data from participants ’medical records and survey results and analyzed -examination of their blood and urine samples for products administered with nicotine breakdown or a combination of tobacco or marijuana. Combining these databases allowed them to detect the presence of specific toxic chemicals for tobacco smoking or marijuana and see if any of them were associated with an increased risk for heart disease.
The researchers found that several participants who smoked marijuana alone had higher blood and urine levels of a number of smoke-related toxic chemicals such as naphthalene, acrylamide, and acrylonitrile metabolites than non-smokers. smoking. However, the concentration of these substances was lower in marijuana-only smokers than in tobacco smokers.
Researchers also found that acrolein metabolites – substances created by the breakdown of acrolein – were increased in tobacco smokers but not marijuana smokers. This increase was related to cardiovascular disease regardless of whether people smoked tobacco or had other risk factors.
“Our findings suggest that high acrolein levels may be used to identify patients with increased cardiovascular risk,” Gabuzda said, “and that reducing acrolein exposure from tobacco smoking and other sources may be reduced. be a risk reduction strategy. “
The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health (grants R01 DA040391 and DA046203); the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) (donations U24MH100931, U24MH100930, U24MH100929, U24MH100928, U24MH100925, MH062512, HHS-N-271-2010-00036C, and HHSN National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (U01- AI35039, U01-AI35040, U01-AI35041, U01- AI35042, and UM1-AI35043 grants); the National Cancer Institute; National Institute on Drug Misuse; and the National Institute of Mental Health. MACS data collection is also supported by UL1- TR000424.
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