Sidestream Smoke Exposure Increases the Susceptibility of Airway Epithelia to Adenoviral Infection

Sidestream Smoke Exposure Increases the Susceptibility of Airway Epithelia to Adenoviral Infection

BACKGROUND Although significant epidemiological evidence indicates that cigarette smoke exposure increases the incidence and severity of viral infection, the molecular mechanisms behind the increased susceptibility of the respiratory tract to viral pathogens are unclear. Adenoviruses are non-enveloped DNA viruses and important causative agents of acute respiratory disease. The Coxsackievirus an...

Sidestream cigarette smoke toxicity increases with aging and exposure duration.

OBJECTIVES To determine the effects of aging on the toxicity of sidestream tobacco smoke, the complex chemical mixture that enters the air from the lit end of burning cigarettes and constitutes the vast bulk of secondhand smoke. DESIGN Statistical analysis of data from controlled experimental exposures of Sprague Dawley rats to fresh and aged (for more than 30 minutes) sidestream smoke for up...

Prenatal and Early, but Not Late, Postnatal Exposure of Mice to Sidestream Tobacco Smoke Increases Airway Hyperresponsiveness Later in Life

BACKGROUND Cigarette smoke exposure in utero and during early postnatal development increases the incidence of asthma and airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) later in life, suggesting that a possible critical period of developmental sensitivity exists in the prenatal and early postnatal periods. OBJECTIVE We investigated mechanisms of susceptibility during critical developmental periods to sides...

Susceptibility to Mycobacterial Infection in Airway Delivery of Silica Increases

Chlorine gas exposure increases susceptibility to invasive lung fungal infection.

Chlorine (Cl₂) is a highly irritating and reactive gas with potential occupational and environmental hazards. Acute exposure to Cl₂ induces severe epithelial damage, airway hyperreactivity, impaired alveolar fluid clearance, and pulmonary edema in the presence of heightened inflammation and significant neutrophil accumulation in the lungs. Herein, we investigated whether Cl₂ exposure affected t...