Nicotine activates certain white blood cells which in turn release inflammatory molecules, say scientists who have found why smoking causes increased inflammation throughout the body.
"Our study found an explanation how nicotine contributes to induction of inflammation and in doing so shows new possibilities for future therapies to treat tobacco-related diseases which each year lead to premature deaths of several million people worldwide," said Constantin Urban, researcher from the Umea Centre for Microbial Research in Sweden.
To make this discovery, researchers stimulated isolated neutrophils from humans and mice with nicotine and could measure a dose-dependent release of inflammatory molecules.
By using pharmacological small molecule inhibitors as well as neutrophils from genetically modified mouse strains the team could identify essential receptor and signaling pathways involved in the nicotine-mediated activation of neutrophils.
The study appears in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology.
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