Abstract:Objective To investigate the effect of smoking on the activity of antithrombin Ⅲ in male patients with type 2 diabetes. Methods A total of 222 male patients with type 2 diabetes were chosen from the clinic. They were divided into 3 groups according to their smoking indexes: nonsmoker group (n = 83), mild-smoker group (n = 80) and heavy-smoker group (n = 59). The clinical characteristics and the activity of antithrombin Ⅲ were measured and compared. Results The activity of antithrombin Ⅲ was (108.52 ± 7.50)% in the nonsmoker group, (105.30 ± 8.88)% in the mild-smoker group, and (102.01 ± 8.61)% in the heavy-smoker group. There was a decreasing trend of antithrombin Ⅲ activity from the nonsmoker group, the mild-smoker group, to the heavy-smoker group with significant differences among the three groups (P < 0.05). The smoking index was negatively correlated with the activity of antithrombin Ⅲ in the smokers (r = -0.30, P < 0.01). Conclusions Smoking might reduce the activity of antithrombin Ⅲ in male patients with type 2 diabetes.