Cigarette smoke exposure inhibit antibody production via inhibition of alveolar macrophage

Abstract

Introduction: Alveolar macrophages (AM) play an important role in the immune system of the lung. Cigarette smoke (CS) is known to suppress antibody production, but the related mechanism with AM is not clearly understood. The aim of this study was to investigate how CS affects antibody production through alveolar macrophage.Methods: Mice were exposed to 20 cigarettes/day for 10 days. AM were obtained by broncho -alveolar lavage. Antibody production was analyzed by plaque forming cell assay using sheep red blood cells (SRBC) as antigen. B cell proliferation was analyzed by 3 H-thymidine incorporation. Phagocytic activity using fluorescein isothiocyanate labeled SRBC and expression of surface antigens on AM were analyzed by flow cytometry. Cytokines and NF-κB mRNA expression of AM were analyzed by RT-PCR.