25 March 2025 : Clinical Research
Inflammatory Biomarkers in Smokers: Implications for Ligamentum Flavum Hypertrophy
Eyüp Çetin A 1*, Dilara Başgül Sagiri B 1, Eylem Burcu Kahraman Özlü D 1, Ezgi Akar BD 1, Eray Metin Güler
BD 2,3, Sarper Kocaoğlu BC 1, Hakan Beyaztaş BD 2,4, Emine Demir FG 5
DOI: 10.12659/MSM.947508
Med Sci Monit 2025; 31:e947508
Table 2 Comparative analysis of demographic, clinical, and biochemical variables between smokers and non-smokers.
| Non-smoker (−) (n=31) | Smoker (+) (n=27) | p | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg.±ss/n-% | Median | Avg.±ss/n-% | Median | ||||
| Age (years) | 55.9±13.8 | 57.0 | 44.3±11.1 | 41.0 | m | ||
| Sex | Female | 13/41.9% | 16/59.3% | 0.188 | X | ||
| Male | 18/58.1% | 11/40.7% | |||||
| Weight (kg) | 81.3±18.3 | 78.0 | 74.9±16.2 | 70.0 | 0.145 | m | |
| Height (cm) | 164.6±10.3 | 165.0 | 168.5±7.4 | 168.0 | 0.107 | t | |
| BMI | 29.9±5.8 | 29.4 | 26.2±4.3 | 25.4 | m | ||
| Chronic disease | (−) | 19/61.3% | 20/74.1% | 0.301 | X | ||
| (+) | 12/38.7% | 7/25.9% | |||||
| Alcohol use | (−) | 30/96.8% | 22/81.5% | 0.056 | X | ||
| (+) | 1/3.2% | 5/18.5% | |||||
| Ligamentum flavum side | Right | 10/32.3% | 11/40.7% | 0.702 | X | ||
| Left | 19/61.3% | 16/59.3% | 0.847 | X | |||
| Bilateral | 2/6.5% | 0/0.0% | 0.494 | X | |||
| Heavy lifting exposure | (−) | 30/96.8% | 21/77.8% | X | |||
| (+) | 1/3.2% | 6/22.2% | |||||
| IL1β | 404.7±127.2 | 385.8 | 616.5±171.8 | 624.1 | t | ||
| IL6 | 96.8±28.4 | 89.2 | 120.3±30.7 | 114.8 | t | ||
| TNFα | 183.0±58.1 | 175.3 | 276.7±107.6 | 304.0 | m | ||
| AAT | 2.40±1.33 | 2.63 | 0.88±0.53 | 0.78 | m | ||
| t – independent samples t-test; m – Mann-Whitney U test; X – Chi-square test (Fisher’s exact test when necessary). AUC – area under the curve; CI – confidence interval; IL-1β – interleukin-1 beta; IL-6 – interleukin-6; TNF-α – tumor necrosis factor-alpha; AAT – alpha-1 antitrypsin; BMI – body mass index; PPV – positive predictive value; NPV – negative predictive value; SD – standard deviation. | |||||||