The Effects of Acute Smoking on Platelet Behaviour, Fibrinolysis and Haemorheology in Habitual Smokers

There is an increased frequency of arterial thrombosis in cigarette smokers. The changes in blood coagulation seen in these subjects have been studied by many workers but results have not always been in agreement. We wished to study the effects of acute smoking on platelet behaviour, fibrinolysis and haemorheology in ten habitual smokers, and to compare these results with non-smoking controls. Results show that the smoking group had higher plasma fibrinogen (p less than 0.04), lower plasminogen (p less than 0.02) and plasminogen activator (p less than 0.05), and higher plasma viscosity (p less than 0.003). The changes seen in cigarette smokers after smoking three cigarettes were an increase in the rate of platelet aggregation to ADP (p less than 0.02), an increase in alpha 2M, (p less than 0.02), and factor VIII RAG (p less than 0.05). Plasma viscosity was decreased (p less than 0.02) as was red cell deformability (p less than 0.02). We confirm an increased tendency to hypercoagulability in smokers compared to controls which becomes more pronounced immediately after smoking three cigarettes.