title: Structural and functional alteration of blood vessels caused by cigarette smoking: an overview of molecular mechanisms.
abstract: Smoking is a significant independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease and is a leading cause of structural and functional alterations of the cardiovascular system. Most clinical and experimental investigations of the pathophysiology of cigarette smoking have studied the effects of smoke as a whole, while a few studies focused on specific components of cigarette smoke, e.g. nicotine and carbon monoxide, which are only 2 of the more than 4,000 different chemicals present in cigarette smoke. The findings point to some discrepancies when the effects of whole smoke are compared to nicotine alone, while there is almost uniform agreement that both active and passive smoking have detrimental effects on the cardiovascular system, although a milder effect was suggested for the latter. This review focuses on findings from clinical and experimental studies on the vascular effects of active and passive cigarette smoking and nicotine exposure. The findings are discussed in terms of tissue (conduit vs. resistance arteries and veins), species, age, gender and dosage. Although the exact pathophysiology of cigarette smoking has not been unveiled, cigarette smoking causes injury to the vascular endothelium, produces superoxide anions, reduces production and bioavailability of nitric oxide (NO), increases production and release of endothelin, causes endothelial dysfunction, thrombosis, atherosclerosis, infarction, coronary artery disease (CAD), stroke and death.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Faculty of Medicine, 2176 Health Sciences Mall, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., V6T 1Z3, Canada. mahmud_ubc@yahoo.ca
authors.forename: Mohammad M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Rahman
authors.forename: Ismail
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Laher
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D001808:Blood Vessels / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D007172:Erectile Dysfunction / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009538:Nicotine / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000494:pharmacology; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000096:biosynthesis; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000187:drug effects; D015398:Signal Transduction; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects; D014655:Vascular Resistance
chemical_list: D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution; D009569:Nitric Oxide; D009538:Nicotine