Chapter 21 - Nicotine Exposure During Early Development: Effects on the Lung

Abstract

This chapter discusses the effects of nicotine exposure on lung development. Maternal tobacco smoking during pregnancy has been associated with many adverse outcomes such as increased incidences of pneumonia and bronchitis, impaired lung function, and general respiratory disorders have been observed in children of smoking parents. Research on animals has shown that prenatal nicotine exposure produces alterations in lung function that parallel those observed in infants of mothers who smoked during pregnancy. Nicotine and products of nicotine metabolism can affect lung growth, development, and function via several mechanisms. Nicotine exposure during pregnancy and lactation indirectly stimulates the hexose monophosphate shunt in the lungs of offspring. Cigarette smoke inhibits the proliferation and migration of human lung fibroblasts and fibroblast-mediated repair responses, and therefore may play a role in the development of emphysema. In utero exposure of fetal pulmonary neuro-endocrine cells to nicotine or NNK in cigarette smoke may contribute to the development of paediatric lung disorders such as bronchitis and lower respiratory illnesses, along with altered pulmonary mechanics in infants and children.