BACKGROUND Phosphodiesterases (PDEs) break down cAMP, thereby regulating intracellular cAMP concentrations and diffusion. Since PDE4 predominates in airway epithelial cells, PDE4 inhibitors can stimulate Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator (CFTR) by increasing cAMP. Tobacco smoking and COPD are associated with decreased CFTR function and impaired mucociliary clearance (MCC). How...

Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is a promising pharmacologic target for preventing aerodigestive malignancies. In this study, we investigated the effects of tobacco smoke on the expression of COX-2 in oral mucosa. An approximately 4-fold increase in amount of COX-2 mRNA was observed in the oral mucosa of active smokers versus never smokers. Thus, a series of in vitro studies were carried out to elucid...

OBJECTIVE To investigate whether exposure of human monocytes/macrophages to tobacco smoke induces their release of membrane microvesicles (MVs) that carry tissue factor (TF) released from cells, whether smoke-induced MVs are procoagulant, and what cellular processes might be responsible for their production. METHODS AND RESULTS We found that exposure of human THP-1 monocytes and primary human...

Previous research has not compared implicit affective responses to smoking-related stimuli in occasional (i.e., those who smoke less than one cigarette per day) and daily smokers (i.e., those who smoke at least once per day). In addition to assessing their motivations for smoking, implicit affective responses were measured using the Affect Misattribution Procedure (AMP) in occasional (n=19) and...

in this paper, we explore a nonlinear mathematical model to study the spread of asthma due to inhaled pollutants from industry as well as tobacco smoke from smokers in a variable size population. the model is analyzed using stability theory of differential equations and computer simulation. it is shown that with an increase in the level of air pollutants concentration, the asthmatic (diseased) ...

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A survey was conducted by the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) in India among 88, 562 households in 1992-93 to examine the link between the use of biomass fuel in cooking and the increased risk of tuberculosis (TB) in India. Cooking smoke that contains many noxious components compromises the pulmonary immune system that triggers the development of active TB. It could also facilitate the s...