[Nicotine concentrations in the palatine tonsil, uvula mucosa and septum cartilage of smokers--a pilot study].

The concentrations of nicotine were determined via radioimmunoassay in the palatine tonsils (n = 22) and in the mucosa of the uvula (n = 5) of eleven male smokers, and in the nasal septal cartilage of four other smokers. The same tissues of five nonsmokers served as controls. The mean values of the nicotine concentrations were 77 ng/g for the tonsils (level of serum: 151 ng/g), 114.5 ng/g for the mucosa of the uvula (level of serum: 215 ng/g) and 36 ng/g for the septal cartilage (level of serum: 97 ng/g). There was no nicotine in the tissues and serum of the control group. The correlations between the nicotine concentrations of the three tissues and the levels of the serum were significant. Another significant correlation was found between the nicotine level of the serum and the daily consumption of cigarettes of the eleven patients on whom tonsillectomy had been performed. These concentrations of nicotine in the three types of tissue and in serum appear to be high after an interval of twelve hours non-smoking. With gas-chromatography/mass-spectrometry also unchanged nicotine was found in the tonsils which is considered to be the damaging substance of tobacco.