Gender-specific differences in plasma ferritin
in adolescents smoking cigarettes versus waterpipe
smoking: the Irbid-TRY Project
More details
Hide details
1
Department of Physical Education, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar
2
Division of Physical Therapy, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Jordan University
of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan
3
Department of Allied Medical Sciences, Jordan University of Science and Technology,
Irbid, Jordan
4
Department of Maternal and Child Nursing, Jordan University of Science and Technology,
Irbid, Jordan
5
Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Jordan University of Science and Technology,
Irbid 22110, Jordan
Submission date: 2019-08-30
Final revision date: 2019-11-20
Acceptance date: 2019-12-02
Online publication date: 2021-03-16
Arch Med Sci 2024;20(3)
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Introduction:
Ferritin has been implicated in body physiology and pathology.
Smoking cigarettes (Cg) alters ferritin metabolism. Waterpipe (Wp) smoking
has recently reemerged as a global epidemic and is linked to the most devastating diseases. However, the effect of smoking Wp on ferritin is not known.
Therefore, the current study compared plasma ferritin in adolescents smoking Cg, Wp, both (CgWp) versus never smoked.
Material and methods:
Self-reported smoking status and plasma ferritin levels were obtained from 849 boys (n = 470) and girls (n = 379) in the 7th–10th
grade (age range = 13–17 years).
Results:
The ANCOVA revealed a main effect for gender (p < 0.000) and
smoking status (p < 0.02) without an interaction effect (p > 0.9). Post-hoc
analysis showed greater plasma ferritin in the adolescents smoking Wp
(p < 0.03) and CgWp (p < 0.004) versus never smoked. Gender-stratified
ANCOVA showed a main effect for smoking status in the boys (p < 0.02) and
girls (p < 0.03). Additional comparisons among the boys showed greater
plasma ferritin in the Wp (p < 0.006) and CgWp (p < 0.008) smoking groups
versus never smoking, without differences (p > 0.5) between Wp and CgWp
smoking. Another subgroup comparison showed greater plasma ferritin in
the girls smoking Cg (p < 0.02) and CgWp (p < 0.02) versus never smoking,
without a difference (p > 0.3) between Cg and CgWp smoking.
Conclusions:
The results indicate that ferritin is elevated in adolescent smokers,
particularly the boys smoking Wp and CgWp and in the girls smoking Cg and CgWp.