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Activities of Alpha Amylase in Serum and Saliva of Some Nigerian Cigarette SmokersDOI: 10.5923/j.als.20120201.04 Keywords: -Amylase, Saliva, Cigarette, Pancreatitis, SmokersThe mean serum – amylase activity value was higher for the test (smokers) subjects than the control (non-smokers) individuals. This difference was demonstrated to be statistically significant at the 5% probability level using ANOVA. Similarly, the mean – amylase activity value in the saliva of the control was significantly lower than that of the cigarette smokers.The mean serum – amylase activity values for cigarette smokers were higher than the non-smokers values and these differences were statistically significant (p<0.05).Subjects’ age did not significantly influence serum – amylase activity values, but among the smokers, smoking duration affected values significantly (< Abstract: This study reports the effect of cigarette smoking on serum and salivary -amylase activities of some consenting Nigerian male smokers (20) in apparent good health and between 30 to 70 years. Age and sex-matched non-smokers (20) were included as control subjects. Alpha amylase activity was assayed using standard colorimetric method. Results obtained show that the mean α-amylase activity in serum and saliva were significantly higher (P<0.05) in smokers (131.2 ± 17.0 IU/L and 241.8 ± 23.6 IU/L) when compared with non-smokers (68.3 ± 11.3 IU/L and 133.5 ± 8.6 IU/L), and these represent 84.3% and 95.2% increases in serum and saliva values for the smokers relative to the non-smokers. Evidence from this study indicates a measure of pancreatic, salivary and parotid glands’ dysfunction among the cigarette smokers in Nigeria. Measurement of serum and salivary - amylase activity could be useful in the early detection and diagnosis of pancreatitis and parotitis.
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