[Influence of chronic smoking on leukocytes]

Abstract

The authors showed a significant increase in total leukocyte count (2p less than 0.001), neutrophil concentration (2p less than 0.001) and lymphocyte concentration (2p less than 0.01) in 21 chronic smokers compared to 22 non-smokers. However, only the total leukocyte count and the neutrophil count proved to be correlated to carboxyhemoglobin saturation. Slightly different hypotheses are proposed to explain the increase in leukocyte count: the carbon monoxide and/or the carboxyhemoglobin acts directly on peripheral blood leukocytes or indirectly, via the adrenalin secretion. The average leukocyte count in smokers corresponds to the upper borderline in nonsmokers; therefore, it seems pertinent to take into consideration the number of cigarettes smoked per day when assessing a smoker's leukocytosis.