Relationship of Urinary Mercapturic Acids of Selected Tobacco Smoke Constituents to Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in Cigarette Smokers of the Singapore Chinese Health Study.

α,β-Unsaturated carbonyl compounds in cigarette smoke, such as acrolein and acrylamide, are considered as possible causative factors for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in people who smoke cigarettes. A major route of metabolism of these compounds is reaction with glutathione to form adducts that are further metabolized and excreted in the urine as mercapturic acids, which serve as useful dosimeters of exposure. In this study, we analyzed urine samples from the Singapore Chinese Health Study, a prospective epidemiology study of 63,257 men and women 45-74 years old with Chinese origin who were permanent residents or citizens of Singapore when they were enrolled in 1993-1998. A case-control study with 100 incident cases of COPD and 100 matched controls, all of whom were current cigarette smokers, was conducted within this cohort. Urine samples of the study subjects were collected during follow-up I (2000-2005) and the COPD cases were identified in follow-up II interviews (2006-2010). Urinary mercapturic acids of acrolein (3-hydroxypropyl mercapturic acid, 3-HPMA,