New Study Shows Impact of Smoking on Immune Response to Infections
In a recent study published in Nature, researchers discovered that smoking has a lasting impact on the immune response to infections, even years after someone has quit smoking. The study aimed to understand the variations in immune response from person to person, and three factors emerged as significant influencers: smoking, high body mass index, and a previous infection with cytomegalovirus.
The study collected blood samples and questionnaires from a thousand healthy participants in Brittany, France. The blood samples were exposed to molecules and pathogens known to activate the immune system, and the release of key signaling proteins in inflammatory processes, called cytokines, was measured. The analysis showed that smoking, body mass index, and previous infection with cytomegalovirus had a strong connection with the production of cytokines. However, smoking alone had a significant impact on the immune system, even years after quitting, similar to the combined effects of age, sex, and genetics.
The study also found that smoking alters gene expression, which affects the body’s ability to react to infections and vaccines. Researchers emphasized the importance of considering not only the immediate effects of smoking but also its lasting consequences on health.
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the wide range of potential responses of the human immune system to the same infection. Previous studies have focused on factors such as sex, genetics, and age in the immune response, and this new study adds smoking, body mass index, and previous infections to the list of significant influencers.
The implications of this study are crucial for public health, as it highlights the need to understand the lasting effects of lifestyle choices on the immune system. Researchers hope to further investigate how smoking affects cellular functions and the body’s ability to react to infections and vaccines, in order to gain a broader understanding of the long-term effects of smoking on health.