Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) and Climate Change Influencing the Incidence of Allergic Diseases such as Asthma: in vivo Studies using Murine Model Exposed to Cigarette Smoke

Abstract

Today the air we breathe in is loaded with aeroallergens (such as pollen, fungal spores etc.) and different air pollutants including cigarette smoke, carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide, sulphur dioxide, ozone etc. which are all above the standards prescribed by the government and are extremely harmful for human health. Increased aeroallergen exposures as a result of global warming in combination with pollutants exposure can act synergistically to enhance allergic diseases. Climate change also influences the concentration of airborne pollutants which alone and in conjugation with aeroallergens could exacerbate symptoms of allergic diseases. Smoking pollutes the air and is a widely acknowledged danger to human health. Experimental evidence suggests that complex organic molecules from cigarette smoke may act as allergic adjuvants through the production of oxidative stress in airway cells. Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (also known as passive smoking or second-hand smoke) is an important factor in indoor exposures leading to allergic and asthmatic effects. In our study, we illustrate how ETS, outdoor air pollutants and climate change may act as environmental risk factors for development of asthma. We chose ETS as indoor pollutant in our lab using murine model because atleast some degrees of exposure to ETS is very common worldwide. Mice were exposed to the side stream smoke generated by burning cigarettes in specially designed smoking chamber and lab animal ultrastructural/histopathological studies have demonstrated that mice exposed to cigarette smoke could induce inflammation in the airways. However, more studies are needed to understand the association between environmental factors and development of asthma.