Cigarette smoke-exposed saliva suppresses cellular and humoral immune responses in an animal model.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effects of cigarette smoke (CS)-exposed saliva on cellular and antibody responses in an animal model. METHODS The stimulatory and non-stimulatory saliva samples were collected from 10 healthy subjects and were then exposed to CS for 20 or 80 minutes. The CS-exposed saliva samples were administrated intraperitoneally (i.p) to male Balb/c mice. Then the delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH) and antibody responses to sheep red blood cell (SRBC) was assessed. Moreover, the total white blood cells (WBC) counts and the blood lymphocytes counts were determined. RESULTS The mean of DTH responses of animal groups received 20 minutes or 80 minutes CS-exposed saliva samples was significantly lower than that observed in control group. Moreover, The mean titer of anti-SRBC antibody was significantly lower in animal groups who received 80 minutes CS-exposed stimulatory or non-stimulatory saliva as compared to control group (P < 0.04 and P < 0.002, respectively). The mean counts of blood lymphocytes in 80 minutes CS exposed-stimulatory saliva group was also significantly lower as compared to control group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION These results show that the CS-exposed saliva samples have profound suppressive effects on both cellular and humoral immune response in a mouse animal model.