Effects Of Smoking On Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells And Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Subunits Expression In Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells

Studies were initiated to identify the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) subunits expression and the effects of smoking on their expression of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in male. Blood was collected from 92 smokers of healthy male and 36 non-smokers of healthy male living in Nanjing urban and rural areas. Peripheral blood cells were classified and counted before PBMCs were extracted and used for the semi-quantity reverse transcription-polymerase chain reactions (RT-PCR) to study 11 nAChR subunitsC α 2— α7 α9 α10 β 2— β 4) gene expression. The results showed that the PBMCs of smokers and non-smokers all appear to express α2, α5, α6 and α 7 of the 11 nAChR subunits. But the expression of α 5 and α 7 subunits were lower in cigarette smokers' PBMCs (P<0. 01) and they showed a dose dependent relationship with the daily cigarette consumption (P<0.01) . In addition , the leucocyte and lymphocyte blood counts were higher in smokers (P<0. 01) .These studies suggested that human PBMCs had the expression of nAChR and the functional nAChR may be ( α 7)5 subtype. Smoking appears to decrease the expression of α 5 and α 7 subunits. The leucocyte and lymphocyte blood counts were higher in smokers We presumed that smoking had effect on the immune system through the interaction of nicotine and nAChR on PBMCs.