Cigarette smoke has long been known to aggravate respiratory infections. A new study expands the potential health effects to a new front, showing that acute in vitro exposure of Staphylococcus aureus to cigarette smoke promoted biofilm formation and adhesion to human cells. The active agents behind this boost in activity appeared to be reactive oxygen species (such as hydrogen per­ oxide), whic...

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Oral pigmentation is a condition in which the color of oral mucosa such as gingival mucosa changes. Some exogenous and endogenous factors may lead to oral pigmentation. Secondhand smoke (SHS) or environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) is indirect smoking of an active smoker’s exhalation that can lead to cardiovascular, respiratory system, and some...

BACKGROUND Secondhand smoke increases the risk of coronary heart disease by approximately 30%. This effect is larger than one would expect on the basis of the risks associated with active smoking and the relative doses of tobacco smoke delivered to smokers and nonsmokers. METHODS AND RESULTS We conducted a literature review of the research describing the mechanistic effects of secondhand smok...

Active cigarette smoking has long been known to predispose to atherosclerotic vascular disease, but recently passive smoking has been identified as an important risk factor for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, accounting for up to 20 000 deaths per year in non-smokers in the United States alone' 1 '. Cigarette smoking has deleterious effects on haemodynamics, myocardial perfusion and res...

BACKGROUND Animal studies and data from a single-center study suggest that tobacco smoke exposure may be a risk factor for precapillary pulmonary hypertension (PH). OBJECTIVE We aimed to survey tobacco smoke exposure in a large PH collective and to compare it with epidemiological data from healthy subjects. METHODS This is an international, multicenter, case-control study including patients...

Both active and passive smoking are regarded as risk factors for various diseases. To clarify the effects of active and passive smoking on plasma vitamin C levels and lipid peroxidation status, we examined the plasma levels of ascorbic acid (AA), its redox status [ratio of dehydroascorbate (DHAA) to total AA], the levels of thiobarbiturate reactive substance (TBARS), and the levels of lipid per...

The present study demonstrates the existence of tissue transglutaminase in rabbit alveolar macrophages and measures the effects of cigarette smoke extracts on the activity of enzyme partially purified from these cells. The effects of smoke on transglutaminase purified from guinea pig liver are also measured. A water soluble component of gas-phase cigarette smoke inhibits both enzymes in a dose-...

Evidence supports active smoking as a major source of exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), compounds that are mutagenic and carcinogenic in humans. The influence of involuntary exposure to tobacco smoke on PAH exposure levels among nonsmokers, however, is unknown. This study evaluated the association between both active and involuntary tobacco smoke and biomarkers of PAH exposure...