A new research has suggested that hat smoking disrupts the circadian clock function in both the lungs and the brain, thereby ruining productive sleep, leading to cognitive dysfunction, mood disorders, depression and anxiety.
"This study has found a common pathway whereby cigarette smoke impacts both pulmonary and neurophysiological function. Further, the results suggest the possible therapeutic value of targeting this pathway with compounds that could improve both lung and brain functions in smokers," Irfan Rahman, from the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, N.Y, said.
"We envisage that our findings will be the basis for future developments in the treatment of those patients who are suffering with tobacco smoke-mediated injuries and diseases," he said.
Rahman and colleagues found that tobacco smoke affects clock gene expression rhythms in the lung by producing parallel inflammation and depressed levels of brain locomotor activity.
Short- and long- term smoking decreased a molecule known as SIRTUIN1 (SIRT1, an anti-aging molecule) and this reduction altered the level of the clock protein (BMAL1) in both lung and brain tissues in mice.
A similar reduction was seen in lung tissue from human smokers and patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
The study is published in the FASEB Journal.
