Studies On The Spectral Lines of Salivary Samples Taken From Smokers And Non-Smokers

Abstract

The most common form of smoking in world is cigarette smoking, which is the leading cause of lung cancer, blood pressure, emphysema, bronchitis, heart attack etc Studies show that smoking shortens the life of person by six minutes for every single cigarette he smokes. Saliva of smokers contains some harmful substances like nicotine which is not found in non-smokers. Smoking tobacco destroys the molecules in saliva which are useful in protecting oral region from cancer. Under normal conditions saliva acts like a protective buffer between toxin and the lining of mouth, but in smokers this buffer nature and protective enzyme becomes non functional or less functional resulting in various oral diseases. In the present study, Fouriertransform infrared spectro-microscopy was used for the analysis of saliva sample for the detection of marker for smokers. The analysis included 68 individuals; the samples were classified as 23 non-smokers saliva sample, 18 samples of active smokers and 27 samples of past smokers. Samples of active smokers were collected based on time intervals (15 minutes before smoking, immediately after smoking, 30 minutes after smoking and 1 hour after smoking). Several interesting peaks have been identified as the marker for the smokers from saliva. The peaks at 737cm, 1659 cm, 2146 cmand 3414 cm were significantly altered in the absorption level in active smokers and past smokers when compared with the non-smokers. Analysis based on the time scale suggests that about one hour time interval was required for regaining original spectral position of active smokers. Our study also indicates that the stable marker was possible for active smokers by analyzing the past smokers spectral pattern. Hence these parameters could be used as a basis for developing a spectral method in detection of active smokers using their salivary sample.