title: Cigarette smoking is associated with intestinal barrier dysfunction in the small intestine but not in the large intestine of mice.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To observe the effect of cigarette smoke (CS) on the small bowel and colon in mice and to attempt to explain the potential mechanisms that account for these effects.
  
  
  METHODS
  Male BALB/c mice age 6-8 weeks were randomly divided into a CS group and a control group (n=10 per group). CS mice were exposed to CS (five cigarettes each time, four times a day for 5 days a week using Hamburg II smoking machine and CS was diluted with air at a ratio of 1:6) for 10 weeks, and control mice were exposed to room air. After 10 weeks, mice were sacrificed for analysis (colon and small bowel).
  
  
  RESULTS
  CS exposure impaired the intestinal barrier of the small bowel, based on evidence that CS mice exhibited increased intestinal permeability, bacterial translocation, intestinal villi atrophy, damaged tight junctions and abnormal tight junction proteins. These changes were partly mediated through the activated NF-κB (p65) signalling pathway. However, no obvious changes associated with the intestinal barrier were identified in the small bowel of control mice or the colons of control or CS mice.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CS is associated with intestinal barrier dysfunction in the small intestine but not in the large intestine of mice.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Jinling Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Lugen
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zuo
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Jinling Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Jinling Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Honggang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Jinling Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Rong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Jinling Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, China. Electronic address: dr_zhuweiming@126.com.
authors.forename: Weiming
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Jinling Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Jinling Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Jinling Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Lili
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Jinling Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Jianfeng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Jinling Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Jinling Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Jieshou
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001284:Atrophy; D018988:Bacterial Translocation / Q000502:physiology; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D007420:Intestine, Large / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D007421:Intestine, Small / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D023421:Models, Animal; D016328:NF-kappa B / Q000502:physiology; D010539:Permeability; D012907:Smoking / Q000503:physiopathology*; D019108:Tight Junctions / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D016328:NF-kappa B
keywords: Animal model; Cigarette smoke; Crohn's disease; Intestinal barrier; Ulcerative colitis