PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - WG Kuschner
AU  - A D'Alessandro
AU  - H Wong
AU  - PD Blanc
TI  - Dose-dependent cigarette smoking-related inflammatory responses in healthy adults
AID  - 10.1183/09031936.96.09101989
DP  - 1996 Oct 01
TA  - European Respiratory Journal
PG  - 1989--1994
VI  - 9
IP  - 10
4099  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/9/10/1989.short
4100  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/9/10/1989.full
SO  - Eur Respir J1996 Oct 01; 9
AB  - The aim of this study was to determine the dose-response relationship between cigarette smoke exposure and pulmonary cell and cytokine concentrations in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL). BAL cells and BAL supernatant concentrations of tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF alpha), interleukin (IL)-1 beta, IL-6, IL-8, and monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1 from 14 healthy smokers and 16 healthy nonsmokers were quantified. Statistically greater concentrations of neutrophils, macrophages, IL-1 beta, IL-6, IL-8 and MCP-1 were observed among smokers compared with nonsmokers (p < or = 0.0007 in all cases). Cigarette smoking, categorized ordinally as: less than one pack, one pack, or greater than one pack per day, was predictive of BAL macrophages (p < 0.0001), neutrophils (p = 0.015), IL-1 beta (p < 0.001) and IL-8 (p = 0.02). We conclude that concentrations of macrophages, neutrophils, IL-1 beta and IL-8 are elevated in the pulmonary microenvironment of smokers in a cigarette dose-dependent manner. Based on the present findings, we would caution against simple analyses that treat current smokers as a homogeneous group and which do not account for smoking intensity.