1. Introduction
infections, HIV (PWH
INFECTIONS
These authors contributed equally to this work.The nicotine metabolite ratio (NMR) is associated with race/ethnicity but has not been evaluated among smokers in the African region. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from a large randomized, controlled trial for smoking cessation among people with HIV (PWH) in South Africa. Urine samples were analyzed for the NMR and evaluated as a binary variable using a cutoff value of the fourth quartile to determine the fastest metabolizers. The median NMR was 0.31 (IQR: 0.31, 0.32; range: 0.29, 0.57); the cut-point for fast metabolizers was ≥0.3174 ng/mL. A high NMR was not associated with the number of cigarettes per day (OR = 1.10, 95% CI: 0.71, 1.70, Despite recent advancements in antiretroviral therapy (ART), HIV remains a significant threat to global health, with 41 million people living with HIV and 1.5 million new infections each year [The nicotine metabolite ratio (NMR) is a novel biomarker that characterizes how fast the body metabolizes nicotine [