title: Expression Changes of Apoptotic Genes in Tissues from Mice Exposed to Nicotine
abstract: Objective: Smoking is the leading preventable cause of various diseases such as lung cancer, chronic obstructive
  pulmonary disease and cardiovascular disease. Nicotine, one of the major toxic components of tobacco, contributes
  to the pathogenesis of different diseases. Methods: Given the controversy about nicotine toxicity, the present study
  was conducted to determine apoptotic effects of nicotine on the heart, kidney, lung and liver of male mice. Real-time
  PCR was performed to identify mRNA expression changes in apoptotic-related genes between nicotine treated and
  control mice. Result: In the heart and lung, nicotine caused significant decrease in P53, Bax and Caspase-3 mRNA
  expression levels compared to the control group. However, in the kidney and liver, the result was significant increase
  in Bax, Caspase-2, Caspase-3 and a significant decrease in P53 mRNA expression (p<0.01). DNA fragmentation assays
  indicated no fragmentation in the heart and lung, but in the kidney and liver of nicotine treated mice, isolated DNA was
  fragmented. Conclusion: Our study provided insight into the molecular mechanisms of nicotine anti-apoptotic effects
  on the heart and lung as well as pro-apoptotic effects on kidney and liver via a P53-independent pathway.
authors.affiliation: Fertility and Infertility Research Center, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran. Email:mery_sohrabi@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Cyrus
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jalili
authors.forename: Mohammad Reza
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Salahshoor
authors.forename: Mohammad Taher
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Moradi
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ahookhash
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Taghadosi
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sohrabi
keywords: Nicotine; apoptosis; liver; caspase-2; P53