Nicotine dependence in an isolated population of Kashubians from North Poland: A population survey

Abstract

Background: Tobacco use is a complex, multistage behaviour. The particular stages of this behaviour, including nicotine dependence (ND), are influenced by both genetics and the environment. We aimed to assess ND in a sample of current smokers, derived from the isolated population of Kashubians from North Poland, and evaluate its potential association with age, sex and several variants within the CHRNA3 and CHRNA5 nicotine receptor subunits genes. Methods: The study sample consisted of 788 current smokers. ND was evaluated using the Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND), the Heavy Smoking Index (HSI), the number of cigarettes per day (CPD) and the time to first cigarette after waking (TTF). All subjects underwent genotyping for CHRNA3 rs1051730, CHRNA3 rs6495308, and CHRNA5 rs55853698 variants. Multivariate regression analysis was used for the assessment of the studied correlations. A significance level of 0.05 with the Bonferroni correction for multiple testing was set for a type 1 error in the analyses. Results: The mean CPD, FTND and HSI scores in the study sample were 17.5±7.7, 4.2±2.1 and 2.8±1.3, respectively. No association between FTND, HSI or TTF and age was found. In turn, heavy smoking (CPD>20) was significantly associated with older age (OR=1.78, 95% CI: 1.16-2.75, p=0.009) and male sex (OR=1.87, 95% CI: 1.15-3.02, p=0.011), and TTF≤5 min was significantly associated with female sex: OR=1.51 (1.08-2.09), p=0,014. Among studied polymorphisms only rs1051730 had a significant association with CPD (OR=1.77, 95% CI: 1.20–2.59; p=0.004). Conclusion: Our study showed a low to moderate level of ND in the Kashubians, influenced by age, sex and the CHRNA3 rs1051730 variant.