E. Calzavara¹, M. Navarra^2,3, A. Carnì¹, C. Mannucci¹, A. Pieratti¹, V. Cafeo¹, M. Miroddi¹, A.P. Caputi^1,3, G. Calapai¹.

¹Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine and Pharmacology, University of Messina, Italy.
²Pharmaco-Biological Department, University of Messina, Italy
³IRCCS Centro Neurolesi “Bonino-Pulejo”, Messina, Italy

Increase in white cells count is considered a biomarker of cardiovascular risk and it is frequently observed in smokers. Aim of our study was to evaluate this biomarker in smokers with rheumatic diagnosis. We carried out an observational clinical study on 115 rheumatic outpatients (26 men and 89 women) attending to the Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria “Policlinico G. Martino” of the University of Messina. The group of outpatients was divided into two subgroups according to their smoking habit: one subgroup was composed of 56 smokers, the other subgroup was composed of 59 not smokers. Diagnosis and common routinary clinical parameters were collected. The following clinical parameters were evaluated: body mass index, heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure. In the blood: red and white cell counts, haemoglobin, haematocrit, platelets, differential white cells count, C-Reactive Protein (CRP), Rheumatoid Factor (RF), Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR), total cholesterol level, triglycerides, glycaemia, produced by patients at the time of the visit rheumatology. In the total sample, smokers were 48.69%.

Most common diagnosis was osteoarthritis (OA) (40.87% of the total); smokers in OA women were 36.11%, smokers in OA men were 54.55%. Second most common diagnosis was rheumatoid arthritis (RA) (23.48% of the total); smokers in RA women were 40.91%; smokers in RA men were 80%. OA smokers showed a significant increase (P < 0.05) in white cells count when compared with OA not smokers. Between RA smokers and not smokers, any clinical difference was found. RA subjects following regular pharmacological treatment in the last 2 months were 84.61%. OA patients treated with drugs in the last 2 months were only 22.2%. Results confirm that smoking habit may influence in rheumatic pathologies both the development and gender distribution of diseases. They show also that in absence of pharmacological treatment in smokers affected by OA an increase in white cells count is generally observed.