The article highlighted in this issue is "Short-Term Exposure to Aged and Diluted Sidestream Cigarette Smoke Enhances Ozone-Induced Lung Injury in B6C3F1 Mice" by Mang Yu, Kent E. Pinkerton, and Hanspeter Witschi (pp. 99-106).

BACKGROUND A number of epidemiologic studies have suggested that every year environmental tobacco smoke (second-hand smoke) is responsible for tens of thousands of deaths, mostly from heart disease, in the United States. Environmental tobacco smoke is composed mainly (80% to 85%) of aged and diluted sidestream smoke. The remainder is exhaled mainstream smoke. Among the thousands of compounds th...

BACKGROUND Sidestream smoke is closely associated with airway inflammation and hyperreactivity. The present study was designed to investigate if the Raf-1 inhibitor GW5074 and the anti-inflammatory drug dexamethasone suppress airway hyperreactivity in a mouse model of sidestream smoke exposure. METHODS Mice were repeatedly exposed to smoke from four cigarettes each day for four weeks. After t...

BACKGROUND We investigated effects of short- and long-term exposure to sidestream smoke on the bronchiolar and alveolar cells in Sprague-Dawley rats. METHODS RATS WERE DIVIDED INTO FIVE EXPERIMENTAL GROUPS: groups 1, 2, and 3 (1-month exposure to 3, 5, and 7 cigarettes a day, respectively), groups 4 and 5 (3- and 6 month exposure to five cigarettes a day, respectively). We examined the morpho...

BACKGROUND Oxidative stress is involved in the onset of several degenerative disorders, and epidemiological studies indicate that a high intake of dietary antioxidants, as in the case of the Mediterranean basin, is protective. Olive mill waste waters (OMWWs) are a byproduct of olive oil production rich in phenolic antioxidants, such as hydroxytyrosol. We tested the effects of a low dose of an O...

A novel method for the collection and preparation of sidestream cigarette smoke condensate is described for trace elemental analysis by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. The smoke collection method utilizes a specially designed chimney that collects and directs the sidestream smoke (SS) to a 2-stage trapping system consisting of an...

Background Development of predictive models of preeclampsia has only yielded modest results. We hypothesized that impaired indices of microcirculatory function could be detected using sidestream dark field imaging. The objective of this study was to examine microvascular function in women at high risk for preeclampsia at mid-gestation. Methods Women between 16 and 22 weeks of gestation were s...

passive smoking (ps), a well-known health risk, is the major source of indoor pollution. there is some inconsistent evidence that ps during pregnancy may increase the risk of low birth weight. the aim of the present study was to determine the effects of ps exposure during pregnancy on weight, length and cranial circumference at birth of babies born to women who have described themselves as nons...

BACKGROUND The literature has already demonstrated that cigarette influences the cardiovascular system. In this study, we performed a literature review in order to investigate the relationship between sidestream cigarette smoke (SSCS) and cardiac autonomic regulation. METHODS Searches were performed on Medline, SciELO, Lilacs and Cochrane databases using the crossing between the key-words: "c...