Correlation of Cotinine Levels with Use of Smokeless Tobacco (Mishri) among Pregnant Women and Anthropometry of Newborn.

Introduction: 'Smokeless tobacco' is the term used for the tobacco that is consumed in un-burnt form and it can be used orally or nasally. Cotinine, a nicotine metabolite, is used to quantify exposure to tobacco, which readily gains access to foetal circulation. Cotinine is invariably found in coelomic, amniotic and foetal serum when maternal serum cotinine levels exceed 25ng/ml.

Aim: To estimate cotinine levels among pregnant women using and not using smokeless tobacco (mishri) and to correlate cotinine level with anthropometry of newborns.

Materials And Methods: A hospital based cohort study was conducted at Krishna Hospital, Karad, District Satara, Maharashtra, India. Pregnant women who were using smokeless tobacco (mishri) during pregnancy were analyzed for cotinine levels in blood by using ELISA kit tech and correlated with anthropometry of newborn babies and compared with non users of tobacco.

Results: About 480 gm reduction in Birth weight and 6.5 cm reduction in birth length of babies born to mishri users compared to non users of tobacco and also cotinine levels among users were found significantly negatively correlating with anthropometric measurement of newborn babies.

Conclusion: A pro-active effort is essential to educate the women about adverse effects of tobacco in general and on the intrauterine growth of the baby in particular.