Effect of Serum Cotinine on Vitamin D Serum Concentrations Among American Females with Different Ethnic Backgrounds

Objective: To investigate the effect of blood serum concentration of cotinine among non-smokers, passive/light smokers and active smoker females in the United States population as it compares to vitamin D blood serum concentrations. Materials and Methods: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) that is designed to assess the health and nutritional status of adults and children in the United States by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (n=22,196). Results: The analyses demonstrated that among all three smoking categories, black female active smokers have lower vitamin D (13.374 ng/ml), than hispanic (19.213 ng/ml) or white (24.929 ng/ml) females. It was demonstrated that the active smoker black females have the highest percentage of vitamin D deficiency and inadequacy in the population compared to other ethnic females. Conclusion: The cotinine blood serum concentrations can also affect vitamin D concentrations in addition to other factors such as gender, ethnicity, dietary supplement intake and sun exposure.