Preliminary Findings on the Salivary Metabolome of Hookah and Cigarette Smokers

Ellen Greenfield; Mariana de Sá Alves; Fernanda Rodrigues; Júlia Oliveira Nogueira; Letícia Ferrari da Silva; Henrique Pereira de Jesus; Desiree Rosa Cavalcanti; Bruna Fernandes do Carmo Carvalho; Janete Dias Almeida; Maria Anita Mendes; Mônica Ghislaine Oliveira Alves

doi:10.1021/acsomega.3c03683

Preliminary Findings on the Salivary Metabolome of Hookah and Cigarette Smokers

ACS Omega. 2023 Sep 30;8(40):36845-36855. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.3c03683. eCollection 2023 Oct 10.

Affiliations

¹ Technology Research Center (NPT), Universidade de Mogi das Cruzes, Mogi das Cruzes 08780-911, Brazil.
² Department of Biosciences and Oral Diagnosis, Institute of Science and Technology, São Paulo State University (UNESP), São José dos Campos, São Paulo 01049-010, Brazil.
³ School of Dentistry, Universidade Mogi das Cruzes, Mogi das Cruzes 08780-911, Brazil.
⁴ Dempster MS Lab, Department of Chemical Engineering, Polytechnic School, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo 05508-900, Brazil.

Abstract

The aim of the study was to evaluate the salivary metabolomic profile of patients who habitually smoke hookah and cigarettes. The groups consisted of 33 regular and exclusive hookah smokers, 26 regular and exclusive cigarette smokers, and 30 nonsmokers. Unstimulated whole saliva was collected for the measurement of salivary metabolites by gas chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS). The MetaboAnalyst software was used for statistical analysis and evaluation of biomarkers. 11 smoking salivary biomarkers were identified using the area under receiving-operator curver criterion and threshold of 0.9. Xylitol and octadecanol were higher in cigarette smokers compared to controls; arabitol and maltose were higher in controls compared to cigarette smokers; octadecanol and tyramine were higher in hookah smokers compared to controls; phenylalanine was higher in controls compared to hookah smokers; and fructose, isocitric acid, glucuronic acid, tryptamine, maltose, tyramine, and 3-hydroxyisolvaleric acid were higher in hookah smokers compared to cigarettes smokers. Conclusions: The evaluation of the salivary metabolome of hookah smokers, showing separation between the groups, especially between the control versus hookah groups and cigarette versus hookah groups, and it seems to demonstrate that the use of hookah tobacco is more damaging to health.