Tumor necrosis factor alpha as a marker of systemic and local inflammation in “healthy” smokers

Tobacco smoking induces a local and systemic inflammatory reaction and also a decline in pulmonary function. There are some novel noninvasive methods to measure the degree of inflammatory bronchial reaction, including the exhaled breath condensate (EBC) in which several inflammatory markers can be measured, including tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha). There is a clear clinical need to develop methods that allow early detection of smokers at risk of losing pulmonary function.