Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring in Passive Smoking and Atropine - Response in Healthy Volunteers

A Leone, A Guidi, G Bertoncini, A Battaglia
Correspondence: Dr A Leone

ABSTRACT
Aim The purpose of this study is to assess the effects of intravenous atropine on blood pressure (BP), systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP), after exposure of healthy volunteers to environmental cigarette smoking.
Methodology Seventeen non-smoking healthy volunteers (11 men and six women), aged from 20 years to 50 years (mean age: 31.3 +/- 8.7), were studied. These subjects received atropine under two conditions: first, in a 60 cubic metres of indoor space unpolluted by cigarette smoke; and second, in the same environment but polluted by 35 ppm carbon monoxide concentration reached by cigarette combustion. BP of each subject was recorded every 15 minutes for two hours by using an Ambulatory Blood Pressure Recorder BR 102.
Results Mean baseline BPs in a smoke-free environment and in a smoking environment were respectively 120 +/- 18 mmHg and 120 +/- 25 mmHg for systolic values, and 81 +/- 6 mmHg and 84 +/- 9 mmHg for diastolic values (P > 0.05). After administration of atropine, mean BPs were respectively 126 (+/- 24)/80(+/- 7) mmHg in a smoke-free environment, and 131 (+/- 14)/ 90(+/- 2) mmHg after exposure to passive smoking (P > 0.05, no statistical significance).
Conclusion Our observations showed that BP varied but without statistically significant changes after acute exposure to passive smoking. However, it is known that any increase in BP leads to higher cardiovascular risks.

Keywords: blood pressure, passive smoke, atropine
Singapore Med J 2000; 41(3): 104-106