Cigarette Smoking Is Associated With Low Glomerular Filtration Rate in Male Patients With Type 2 Diabetes
Response to Saito et al.
- Salvatore De Cosmo, MD1,
- Olga Lamacchia, MD2,
- Loreto Gesualdo, MD3,
- Vincenzo Trischitta, MD14 and
- Mauro Cignarelli, MD2
- 1Unit of Endocrinology, the Scientific Institute Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, San Giovanni Rotondo, Foggia, Italy
- 2Unit of Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases, Department of Medical Sciences, University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy
- 3Unit of Nephrology, Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy
- 4Department of Clinical Sciences, University of Rome La Sapienza, Rome, Italy
- Address correspondence to Mauro Cignarelli, MD, Unit of Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases, Department of Medical Sciences, University of Foggia, via Luigi Pinto, 71100 Foggia, Italy. E-mail: m.cignarelli{at}unifg.it
Response to Saito et al.
We thank Saito et al. (1) for their interest and comments regarding our recent article (2). They suggest that the absence of positive correlation between the number of cigarettes smoked per day and severity of nephropathy, as expressed by low glomular filtration rate, might be due to the exclusion of ex-smokers in the analysis. This is possible, given the fact that some studies (3,4) (though not all [5]) including ex-smokers have found the above-mentioned correlation. In fact, both options (i.e., ex-smokers being either included or excluded) have their own rationale (3–6). In our specific context, we decided to design a study aimed at investigating the role of current smoking in modulating the risk of having low glomular filtration rate. Including ex-smokers could weaken the result obtained and conceal the role played by exposure to tobacco smoke on oxidative stress, as we have shown. However, we do acknowledge that the alternative approach, including ex-smokers, would have been equally appropriate if aimed at also determining the effect of previous smoking habit.
Footnotes
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