Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2007 Apr 21;13(15):2150-2.
doi: 10.3748/wjg.v13.i15.2150.

Effect of smoking on inflammatory bowel disease: Is it disease or organ specific?

A Karban  1 , R Eliakim
Affiliations
Review

Effect of smoking on inflammatory bowel disease: Is it disease or organ specific?

A Karban et al. World J Gastroenterol. .

Abstract

Smoking is an important environmental factor in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) with differing effects in ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD). Never smoking and formerly smoking increase the risk of UC, whereas smoking exacerbates the course of CD. The potential mechanisms involved in this dual relationship are yet unknown. A reasonable assumption is that smoking has different effects on the small and large intestine. This assumption is based on animal and human studies that show that the effects of smoking/nicotine on CD and UC depend on the site of inflammation and not on the type of disease.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Calkins BM. A meta-analysis of the role of smoking in inflammatory bowel disease. Dig Dis Sci. 1989;34:1841–1854. - PubMed
    1. Cottone M, Rosselli M, Orlando A, Oliva L, Puleo A, Cappello M, Traina M, Tonelli F, Pagliaro L. Smoking habits and recurrence in Crohn's disease. Gastroenterology. 1994;106:643–648. - PubMed
    1. Birrenbach T, Böcker U. Inflammatory bowel disease and smoking: a review of epidemiology, pathophysiology, and therapeutic implications. Inflamm Bowel Dis. 2004;10:848–859. - PubMed
    1. Reif S, Klein I, Arber N, Gilat T. Lack of association between smoking and inflammatory bowel disease in Jewish patients in Israel. Gastroenterology. 1995;108:1683–1687. - PubMed
    1. Fich A, Eliakim R, Sperber AD, Carel RS, Rachmilewitz D. The association between smoking and inflammatory bowel disease among israeli jewish patients. Inflamm Bowel Dis. 1997;3:6–9. - PubMed

MeSH terms