Figure 3.

Metabolite concentration variations in relation to smoking cessation time. Taking NS as baseline, figures show the mean residuals of metabolites in different groups of CS and FS, giving the trend of metabolite variation with cessation time. FS were grouped by stratified cessation time (≤10, 11 to 20, 21 to 30, 31 to 40, 41+). Residuals were calculated by linear regression model (regression of metabolite concentration on age, body mass index and alcohol consumption). aa: diacyl-; ae: acyl-alkyl-; CS: current smokers; FS: former smokers; NS: never smokers; PC: phosphatidylcholine.