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Introduction: Nicotine dependence and smoking frequency are critical factors for smoking cessation. The aims of this study are (1) to determine if nicotine dependence Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND) scores are associated with urinary levels of nicotine metabolites, (2) to assess the relationship of hydroxycotinine/cotinine ratio with FTND score and cigarettes smoked per day (CPD), and (3) to identify significant predictors of cigarettes per day among biomarker concentrations and individual FTND items., Methods: Urine samples and questionnaire data of 239 daily smokers were obtained. Nicotine, cotinine and hydroxycotinine urinary levels were determined by UPLC MS/MS.Multiple linear regression models were developed to explore the relationship between nicotine, cotinine, hydroxycotinine levels and separate FTND scores (for all six items)., Results: We found significant correlations between the different urinary biomarker concentrations, and the FTND score. The time before the first cigarette after waking (TTFC) was significantly associated with the nicotine, cotinine and hydroxycotinine concentrations. No association was found between the ratio of hydroxycotinine to cotinine and either the FTND or the CPD. A model including four FTND questions, sex, age, and the cotinine concentration, accounted for 45% of the variance of CPD., Conclusions: There are significant relationships between urinary levels of nicotine, cotinine, and hydroxycotinine and the FTND score. Especially the FTND question about TTFC is relevant for explaining the biomarker concentrations. CPD (below 15) was significantly explained by four FTND dependence items and urinary cotinine levels in a regression model., Implications: We investigated associations between urinary levels of nicotine, cotinine, and hydroxycotinine in daily smokers and the FTND scores for nicotine dependence. We did not find association between the hydroxycotinine/cotinine ratio and CPD. We developed a model that explains the cigarettes smoked daily (CPD) in a group of light smokers by combining FTND items, urinary cotinine levels, sex, and age. Our results might be of importance for clinical use or future studies on larger smoking populations., (© The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Background: A railway incident with victims of exposure to the cyanogenic substance acrylonitrile (ACN).Aims: We retrospectively (i)built an inventory of the clinical characteristics of individuals admitted to surrounding emergency departments (ED's) and (ii)studied the correlation between N-2-cyanoethylvaline (CEV), a biomarker used in a population study for evaluating exposure to ACN, with lactate and thiocyanate (SCN), biomarkers determined during emergency care.Results: 438 patients from 11 ED's were included and presented with known symptoms of ACN poisoning but also with concern about the risks. A comparison of CEV with lactate or SCN was possible in 108 and 73 patients respectively. CEV was very high in a critically ill patient with a high lactate. There was no correlation with CEV in the patients with normal or slightly elevated lactate concentrations. A correlation of CEV with SCN was only observed in smokers.Limitations: First there is a lack of data in some clinical files concerning the time and duration of exposure and the smoking-status. A second limitation is that blood samples for biomarkers were not taken systematically in all patients, which may have induced bias. A third limitation is that blood sampling was possibly done outside the correct time window related to the delayed toxicity of ACN. Finally the number of severely-intoxicated patients was low and ACN exposure may not have taken place e.g. in individuals consulting with psychological symptoms. These aspects may have contributed to the below detection limits' analyses of biomarkers.Conclusions: CEV was markedly elevated in a severely-intoxicated patient with high lactate, a sensitive marker for CN intoxication. We found no correlation of CEV with normal or slightly elevated lactate concentrations but clinicians should consider the possibility of subsequent rises due to the delay in ACN toxicity. CEV correlated with SCN in smokers, which may be explained by ACN in tobacco smoke and deserves further exploration. Further studies are necessary to evaluate the correlation between biomarkers in acute chemical exposures to ACN and these should be carried out prospectively using a preplanned template. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]