Cigarette smoking as an aggravating factor in inflammatory tissue-destructive diseases. Increase in tumor necrosis Factor-alpha priming of peripheralneutrophils measured as generation of oxygen radicals

Stimulated neutrophils from subjects with various inflammatory tissue-destr uctive conditions, such as periodontal, pulmonary, gastrointestinal, and ca rdiovascular diseases, generate more oxygen radicals and proteases, implica ted an tissue destruction, than neutrophils from healthy persons. Cigarette smoking aggravates these diseases. The aim of our study was to investigate the effect of cigarette smoking on the priming capacity of tumor necrosis factor-alpha, measured as generation of radicals from stimulated neutrophil s, in smoking and non-smoking subjects with or without periodontitis. The p riming effect was higher in neutrophils from smokers. In the group with per iodontitis, smoking caused an even greater increase in the generation of ra dicals, indicating an additive effect of this local disease. The membrane e xpression of CD11b, CD15, and CD63 was significantly higher on neutrophils from smokers, indicating upregulated neutrophil functions. This increased p riming effect of tumor necrosis factor-or in smokers subjects could be of i mportance in the aggravation of tissue-destructive inflammatory diseases.