G. Monfrecola et al., THE ACUTE EFFECT OF SMOKING ON CUTANEOUS MICROCIRCULATION BLOOD-FLOW IN HABITUAL SMOKERS AND NONSMOKERS, Dermatology, 197(2), 1998, pp. 115-118
Background: Smoking is known to be a primary cause of chronic harmful
effects on the vascular system, It also induces some acute effects on
the coronary circulation and on the ophthalmic artery. Objective: The
aim of our study was to assess the effect of smoking a single cigarett
e on cutaneous blood flow in habitual smokers as well as in nonsmokers
. Methods: A laser Doppler flowmeter was used to perform measurements
of cutaneous microcirculation. Flowmetric data were recorded (i) befor
e smoking, (ii) inhaling from an unlighted cigarette, (iii) during cig
arette smoking, (iv) 2 and (v) 5 min after smoking. Results: We could
show that smoking a single cigarette acts on the cutaneous microcircul
ation reducing blood flow in both groups of subjects (38.1% reduction
in smokers and 28.1% reduction in nonsmokers; p<0.01). Interestingly,
the recovery phase is faster in nonsmoker subjects than in smoker ones
; in fact, the recovery is complete 2 and 5 min after cigarette smokin
g in nonsmokers and in smokers, respectively. Conclusion: Smoking a si
ngle cigarette decreases the cutaneous blood flow in habitual smoker a
s well as in nonsmoker subjects, Moreover, the slower recovery phase o
f smokers suggests that their microcirculation become inured to smoke.