Vascular permeability and intravascular erythrocyte aggregation in young people after smoking cessation

Aim. To study the parameters of microcirculation and permeability of the microvessels in young people who have ceased smoking. Subjects and methods. The study enrolled 35 healthy young adults (male to female ratio, 20:15; mean age, 21.71 +/- 0.46 years) who had stopped smoking 1 month to 10 years (mean 2.63 +/- 0.43 years) ago. The compared group consisted of 16 smokers (male to female ratio, 6:10; mean age, 21.62 +/- 0.72 years) and 29 non-smokers (male to female ratio, 8:21; mean age, 21.62 +/- 0.48 years). Computer-assisted video biomicroscopy of the bulbar conjunctiva was performed. When the results were assessed, attention was drawn to a change in the degree and extent of intravascular erythrocyte aggregation (IVEA) and vessel wall permeability. Results. As compared to the smokers, those who had quit smoking showed a decrease in the degree of IVEA in the arterioles (p(1)=0. 044, van der Waerden test), its prevalence in the central, transitional, and perilimbar regions (p(1)<0.0001), and a decline in the number of conjunctival areas that exhibited IVEA (2.2 and 3.437; p(1)=0.0002). Those who had given up smoking versus the smokers were found to have more rarely local foci of conjunctival edema (formation of veils; p(1)=0.0217). Conclusion. In the young people who have ceased smoking versus the smokers, IVEA decreases and miscovascular permeability restores.