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Objective: To examine the dose-response relationship of smoking status with carotid atherosclerosis in 959 relatively healthy Chinese men., Methods: 959 older Chinese men were selected from Guangzhou Biobank Cohort Study (GBCS) on cardiovascular disease. Personal histories were collected and fasting plasma glucose and lipids, blood pressure, and common carotid artery intima-median thickness (CCA-IMT) were measured., Results: (1) Composition of the cases: 39.1% were non-smokers, 25.7% were former smokers and 35.2% were current smokers. The mean (95% confidence interval) carotid IMT was 0.78 (0.77 - 0.79) mm. 18.4% of the subjects had carotid IMT equal to or thicker than 1.0 mm while 34.1% had carotid plaque. (2) After adjusting for age, sex, physical activity, body mass index, fasting glucose, triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, compared to never smokers, current smokers had significantly increased risk for thicker IMT and carotid plaque [odds ratio (OR) = 1.82, 95%CI: 1.30 - 2.55 and OR = 1.95, 95%CI: 1.38 - 2.75, respectively, all P < 0.001]. The risk for thicker IMT and carotid plaque increased with the increasing amount (cigarettes/day) and duration of smoking (years) as well with cigarette pack-years (P for trend all ≤ 0.01)., Conclusion: An elevated risk with a clear dose-response relationship was found between cigarette smoking and carotid atherosclerosis. Quitting smoking or reducing the amount of smoking may lower the risk of atherosclerosis, preventing and controlling the occurrence of cardiovascular diseases, and reducing the related cardiovascular mortalities.

Objective: To examine the association between genetic polymorphism of rs1409181 in ectonucleotide pyrophosphatase/phosphodiesterase 1 (ENPP1) and left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) among older Chinese in Guangzhou., Methods: 390 subjects aged ≥ 50 years were randomly selected from the Guangzhou Biobank Cohort Study-CVD. Information on personal history, blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose and lipids were collected. Color Doppler ultrasound was used to measure the indicators of LVH, including left ventricular internal diastolic diameter (LVIDD), thickness of the interventricular septum diastolic wall (IVSD) and the posterior wall diastolic diameter (LVPWD). LVIDD was calculated using Devereux ventricular mass (LVM) equation while the Left ventricular mass index (LVMI) equation was used to estimate LVH. The genotype of rs1409181 was determined by Taqman SNP genotyping kits using the ABI 7900HT real time PCR system., Results: In the GG, CG and CC genotype groups, the proportions of LVH were 21.5%, 28.2% and 37.5% respectively. Compared with GG, the adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence interval) for the LVH were 1.39 (0.78 - 2.50) and 2.36 (1.21 - 4.60) for CG genotype and CC genotype of ENPP1 respectively (P for trend = 0.01)., Conclusion: Polymorphism of ENPP1 gene rs1409181 was associated with LVH in the older Chinese people in Guangzhou.

Objective: To explore the impact of lifestyle-related, physiological and biochemical factors on aortic arch calcification (AAC)., Methods: 20 430 subjects aged 50 to 85 years were included in this study from the first and second recruitment phase of the Guangzhou Biobank Cohort Study. All the subjects received face-to-face interviews to collect detailed information on their socio-demographic background, occupational exposures, living environment, lifestyle, family and personal disease histories, and received a physical examination and tests including 12-lead ECG, chest radiograph, and pulmonary function testing. Each subject was screened for a range of fasting biochemical parameters. Radiographs were reviewed by two senior radiologists. 300 radiographs were independently read by the two radiologists to assess agreement using Kappa coefficient. Logistic regression was used to assess the association between life style, physiological and biochemical factors and AAC., Results: (1) The rate of agreement on diagnosis for the two radiologists was 85% and Kappa coefficient was 0.68 (P < 0.01) which showed a moderate agreement between the two radiologists. (2) Except hypertension, the subjects were significantly different on their lifestyle, physiological and biochemical factors in both men and women (P < 0.05). (3) AAC was significantly associated with older age, smoking status, LDL-C, and hypertension (P < 0.01) in both genders. ORs (95%CI) indicated the following results: age was 1.11 (1.10 - 1.12) in men and 1.12 (1.12 - 1.13) in women;smoking as 1.31 (1.17 - 1.47) in men and 1.31 (1.09 - 1.57) in women; LDL-C as 1.16 (1.06 - 1.27) in men and 1.38 (1.22 - 1.56) in women, hypertension as 1.33 (1.18 - 1.50) in men and 1.27 (1.18 - 1.38) in women. However, diabetes was found to be associated with an increased risk of AAC in women [OR(95%CI)] 1.38 (1.22 - 1.56)., Conclusion: Age, smoking, hypertension and Low-density lipoprotein level were risk factors to both genders, on AAC, while diabetes increased the risk of AAC, in women.

Objective: To investigate the health status and intention of quitting smoking in factory workers, so as to provide scientific evidence for smoking control., Methods: A cross-sectional survey was carried out on smoking behavior, self-reported health status (SRHS), and intention of quitting smoking in 668 Guangzhou factory workers with different job types. Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND) was used on current smokers. Logistic regression model was used to analyze the association of SRHS, difficulty of quitting smoking (DQS) with some risk factors., Results: (1) 65.0% (n = 348) male and 3.0% (n = 4) female workers were ever-smokers. 90.6% of male smokers usually smoked when getting together with friends or smokers, staying at home, or at leisure time, or just after a meal. (2) 10.7% of the daily smokers and ex-smokers had a worse SRHS than the general same-age people, which is significantly higher than 5.1% of the occasional smokers and those who were never smoking. The OR was 2.22 (95% CI 1.08 approximately 4.59) after adjusting age and education. (3) Of male daily smokers, 50.5% ever thought of quitting smoking. The proportions of ever-thought of quitting smoking were 73.3%, 50.0% and 37.2% respectively in those with better, pretty the same and worse SRHS than the general same-age people (P = 0.009). The proportions of DQS self-scored 30 or less, 31 to 60 and 60 or more were 26.9%, 24.9% and 48.2% respectively in male daily smokers. The OR for DQS (self-scored > 30 vs < or =30) increased with increasing number of colleague smoked and worked around, and with nicotine dependence., Conclusion: Daily smokers and former smokers have worse SRHS than those who are occasional smokers or never smokers in male workers, and most of those with worse SRHS who ever thought of quitting smoking. The DQS is mainly significantly associated with number of colleague smoking and working around, and with nicotine dependence.

Objective: To investigate smoking behavior and nicotine dependence (ND), so as to provide evidence for tobacco control in workers., Methods: A cross-sectional study to investigate smoking behavior and ND in 668 workers with different job assignment in Guangzhou. Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence and logistic regression model were used to analyze the association between ND and some risk factors., Results: (1) The prevalence of ever-smoking was 65.0% (348/535) in men (55.5% daily smokers, 5.4% occasional smokers and 4.1% ex-smokers), and 3.0% (4/133) in women. The prevalence of current smoking for manual workers and safety officers were 67.6% and 64.5% respectively. (2) Among daily and occasional smokers, 66.7% and 89.7% of them had low ND respectively. Among daily smokers, ND increased with the duration of smoking. Manual workers and officers had higher ND., Conclusion: The prevalence of smoking was relatively high in workers and officers and in men. However, majority of the smokers were with low ND and could be the prioritized target for a primary smoking cessation intervention program.

Objective: To establish the method of gas chromatograph-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) for the determination of the cotinine (COT) in human urine., Methods: The conjugated trans-3'-hydroxycotinine (THOC) and COT were hydrolyzed in human urine with beta-glucuronidase. The composition of COT was extracted with the mixture of dichloromethane and n-butyl acetate (2:1) and was separated with HP-5MS fused-silica capillary column. The GC-MS was used for determining its content., Results: The monitoring limit of this method was 0.02 microg/L. Its recovery rate was higher than 90%, Its accuracy rate was 4.30%. It was used for the determination of the cotinine in human urine in Guangzhou Biological Bank the Elderly Cohort., Conclusion: The GC-MS method is a good microanalysis for monitoring the cotinine in human urine rapidly and accurately with little background disturbance. It has been applied in our Guangzhou Cohort Study for determining cotinine in human urine.