Effect of smoking on serum concentrations of total homocysteine and B vitamins in mid-pregnancy

There are conflicting findings in the literature on the effect of smoking on total homocysteine (tHcy) concentrations in non-pregnant subjects. We evaluated the effect of smoking on serum concentrations of tHcy, folate, vitamin B-12 pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP, a coenzyme form of vitamin B-6) in 196 women at 18 and 30 weeks' gestation. The smokers were defined as those who self-reported cigarette smoking and had serum concentrations of thiocyanate, a biomaker of smoking, in the highest quartiles of the population. Mid-pregnancy serum tHcy concentrations were not significantly different between smokers and non-smokers. Folate, vitamin B-12 and PLP concentrations were generally lower in smokers than non-smokers. In smokers, tHcy concentrations had significant negative correlations with folate at both time points. The multiple regression analyses indicated that serum folate concentration was the most significant factor associated with tHcy concentrations among smokers, whereas thiocyanate concentrations showed no such effect. We conclude that serum tHcy concentrations were most strongly associated with the nutritional status of folate among the B vitamins tested during mid-pregnancy in our subjects. We suggest that it is essential to consider the nutritional status of folate, vitamin B-12 and vitamin B-6 in evaluating the effect of smoking on homocysteine metabolism. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.