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. 2022 Jun 9;27(12):3715.
doi: 10.3390/molecules27123715.

Effects of Smoking on Inflammatory-Related Cytokine Levels in Human Serum

Hongjuan Wang  1 , Huan Chen  1 , Yaning Fu  1 , Min Liu  1 , Jingni Zhang  1 , Shulei Han  1 , Yushan Tian  1 , Hongwei Hou  1 , Qingyuan Hu  1
Affiliations

Effects of Smoking on Inflammatory-Related Cytokine Levels in Human Serum

Hongjuan Wang et al. Molecules. .

Abstract

Cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, and several cancers resulting from tobacco smoking, are initially characterized by chronic systemic inflammation. Cytokine imbalances can result in inflammation, making it important to understand the pathological mechanisms behind cytokine production. In this study, we collected blood samples from 78 healthy male volunteers, including non-smokers (n = 30), current smokers (n = 30), and ex-smokers (n = 18), and utilized the liquid suspension chip technique to investigate and compare the expression levels of 17 cytokines and chemokines in the human serum of these volunteers. The results demonstrated that the expression levels of CXCL9/MIG and sIL-6R significantly increased after smoking, and continued to increase after quitting smoking. The expression levels of TARC, ITAC, and sVEGFR-3 increased after smoking but decreased after quitting smoking; the expression level of SAA significantly decreased after smoking and showed an upward trend after quitting smoking. Seven cytokines (IL-1β, BCA-1, TNF-α, CRP, ENA-78, MDC, and TNFRII) did not vary between the three groups, while four cytokines (IL-1α, IL-6, IL-8, and SCF) were not detected in any serum sample. In conclusion, this study assessed the physiological production of cytokines and chemokines, highlighting the differences in each due to smoking status. Our results could help evaluate the early development of smoking-related chronic diseases and cancers.

Keywords: cytokine; human serum; inflammatory; smoking.

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Conflict of interest statement

All authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Scatter plots of serum levels (pg/mL) of cytokines CXCL9/MIG and sIL-6R for non-smokers (n = 30), current smokers (n = 30), and ex-smokers (n = 18). Whiskers were calculated using the Tukey method. Outliers not shown. * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01: Kruskal–Wallis test and Dunn’s multiple comparison test.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Scatter plots of serum levels (pg/mL) of cytokines TARC, ITAC, sVEGFR3, and SAA for non-smokers (n = 30), current smokers (n = 30), and ex-smokers (n = 18). Whiskers calculated using the Tukey method. Outliers not shown. * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001: Kruskal–Wallis test and Dunn’s multiple comparison test.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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