title: The effects of chronic tobacco smoke exposure from high-tar cigarettes on the phagocytic and killing capacity of polymorphonuclear cells of mice.
abstract: Mice were exposed to high-tar (HT) (16 mg tar/cigarette) filtered cigarettes for up to 32 weeks. Intraperitoneal caseinate induction of polymorphonuclear (PMN) cells in both tobacco smoke (TS)-exposed and age-matched control mice provided the source of cells which enabled an assessment to be made in vitro of both their phagocytic and degradative properties. Radioactive Staphylococcus aureus were opsonized with either immune serum or heat-inactivated (complement deficient) immune serum for the tests. Two strains of mice were used in all trials. The PMN cells from BALB/c strain mice were less affected by TS exposure than those of C57 Black mice in both phagocytic and degradative capacities when the S. aureus were opsonized with immune serum. However, heat inactivation of complement within the serum reduced the differences between TS-exposed animals and age-matched controls in both strains of mice. The treatment effects were seen at all times tested from 3 days to 32 weeks of TS exposure. The results suggest that fc-receptor site activity of PMN cells is not significantly affected by TS exposure but that complement interactions within the phagocytic process are significantly suppressed. Whether this is due directly to complement receptors or metabolic associations of phagocytosis of the complement/opsonin/antigen complex is unclear.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D007700:Kinetics; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D009895:Opsonin Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D010587:Phagocytosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D010947:Plants, Toxic; D012906:Smoke / Q000009:adverse effects*; D013045:Species Specificity; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000276:immunology; D013638:Tars / Q000009:adverse effects*; D014026:Nicotiana
chemical_list: D009895:Opsonin Proteins; D012906:Smoke; D013638:Tars