N-acetylcysteine improves microcirculatory flow during smoking: new effects of an old drug with possible benefits for smokers.
Other Scholarly Work
Lu, Q, Björkhem, I, Xiu, RJ et al. (2001). N-acetylcysteine improves microcirculatory flow during smoking: new effects of an old drug with possible benefits for smokers.
. CLINICAL CARDIOLOGY, 24(7), 511-515. 10.1002/clc.4960240719
Lu, Q, Björkhem, I, Xiu, RJ et al. (2001). N-acetylcysteine improves microcirculatory flow during smoking: new effects of an old drug with possible benefits for smokers.
. CLINICAL CARDIOLOGY, 24(7), 511-515. 10.1002/clc.4960240719
Cigarette smoking provokes marked acute changes in the microcirculatory vasculature, including a reduced blood flow velocity. In accordance with the hypothesis that the reduced blood flow is due to an imbalance between pro-oxidants and oxidants, we recently showed that most of the reduction could be reversed by a high dose of vitamin C.
Hypothesis
In the present work we tested the hypothesis that N-acetylcysteine, a mucolyticum and an antioxidant, may have an effect on the smoking-induced changes observed by vital capillary microscopy of the nailfold.
Methods
In all, 37 healthy volunteers of both genders and with varied smoking habits were treated with N-acetylcysteine 200 mg t.i.d. for 2 weeks. In vivo investigation of the microcirculation by capillaroscopy was performed before and after treatment.
Results
Treatment with N-acetylcysteine significantly reduced the smoking-induced relative decrease in capillary blood flow velocity in a group of volunteers with varied smoking habits (p = 0.0016). The preventive effect was clearly significant in smokers (p = 0.003).
Conclusion
Treatment with N-acetylcysteine has a positive impact on microcirculatory flow during smoking, particularly in habitual smokers.
