Effects Of Smokeless Tobacco Research Articles

The Effects of Smokeless Tobacco on Heart Rate and Neuromuscular Reactivity in Athletes and Nonathletes

In brief: To determine the acute effects of smokeless tobacco on heart rate and neuromuscular performance, heart rate was monitored in college men as they performed perceptual-motor tasks. Two stud...

Effect of smokeless tobacco on the replication of herpes simplex virus in vitro and on production of viral lesions in hamster cheek pouch

Previous experiments have shown that combination of herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection and simulated snuff-dipping in hamster buccal pouches enhances the development of micro-invasive squamous cell carcinoma in cheek pouch epithelium. The effect has now been determined of waterextractable components of snuff (snuff-extract) on the growth and the cell-lysing activity of HSV. Various dilutions of snuff-extract in tissue culture medium significantly inhibited the growth of HSV in Vero cell monolayers by inhibiting the viral DNA replication. Moreover, HSV was inactivated and its cell-lysing activity lost when it was incubated with snuff-extract in cell-free condition. Snuff also had a similar anti-herpetic effect in vivo: HSV infection of pouch tissues followed by simulated snuff-dipping resulted in significant inhibition of viral growth. Thus snuff interferes with the DNA synthesis and cytolytic activity of HSV in vitro and in vivo, and this in turn, may increase its oncogenic capacity.

Effects of smokeless tobacco and snuff on oral mucosa of experimental animals

The effects of smokeless tobacco on oral mucosa were studied in 60 Syrian hamsters. Histologic study of the buccal pouch mucosa revealed no significant pathologic changes at either ten or 20 weeks after the start of the experiment. However, studies on epithelial whole mounts revealed a statistically significant decrease in mitotic activity and a statistically significant increase in the number of Langerhans' cells in animals subjected to daily use of tobacco or snuff for 20 weeks.

Effects of smokeless tobacco on the periodontal, mucosal and caries status of adolescent males.

The use of smokeless tobacco (ST) products, such as snuff and chewing tobacco, was investigated in a school population of 565 males with a mean age of 13.8 years. All students completed a tobacco usage questionnaire and were given intraoral examinations by a team of dentists to determine the possible relationship of ST usage to the presence of gingivitis, gingival recession, mucosal pathology and caries. The overall prevalence of ST usage was 13.3%, which was much higher than the 1.4% prevalence of cigarette smoking. Pairwise chi square analysis revealed that there was no relationship between ST usage and the prevalence of gingivitis, but that the prevalence of gingival recession was significantly elevated in ST users, P less than 0.001. The odds of having gingival recession were 9 times greater in the students using smokeless tobacco as compared to healthy, non-user cohorts. ST usage did not affect the prevalence of gingival recession in students without gingivitis. The frequency of occurrence of soft tissue pathology was significantly elevated, about 6-fold in students who used smokeless tobacco, as compared to non-users, P less than 0.01. This was principally due to the increased prevalence of white mucosal lesions in smokeless tobacco users. However, there was no attributable risk for mucosal pathology in ST users who were free of gingivitis. Similarly, the use of smokeless tobacco was associated with a 1.6-fold elevation in mean DMF in students with gingivitis, P less than 0.001, but this increase in caries experience was not seen in ST users who were free of gingivitis. In summary, in students with clean mouths that were free of gingivitis, the use of smokeless tobacco was not associated with a change in the prevalence of gingival recession, mucosal pathology, or in the mean DMF score. In contrast, smokeless tobacco usage was a significant risk factor in individuals with co-existing gingivitis, associated with a marked increase in the prevalence of gingival recession, mucosal pathology and caries experience.