Open AccessNasal Nitric Oxide and Lifestyle Exposure to Tobacco Smoke
Author(s) -
Haibo Zhou,
Baiming Zou,
Milan J. Hazucha,
Johnny L. Carson
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
the annals of otology, rhinology and laryngology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.65
H-Index - 91
eISSN - 1943-572X
pISSN - 0003-4894
DOI - 10.1177/000348941112000706
Subject(s) - tobacco smoke , cotinine , nitric oxide , medicine , physiology , urine , smoke , nicotine , nose , pathogenesis , passive smoking , immunology , environmental health , surgery , chemistry , organic chemistry
Nitric oxide (NO) is a reactive gas generated by inflammatory cells and mucosal epithelial cells of the nose and paranasal sinuses and is an important mediator in nonspecific host defense against infectious agents. However, NO also mediates physiologic events such as vasodilation, mucus hypersecretion, and mucosal disruption that are associated with inflammatory conditions, and it is a regulator of ciliary beat frequency. In the present study, we hypothesized that lifestyle exposure to tobacco smoke, whether through active smoking or by inadvertent exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke, would result in higher detectable levels of nasal NO (nNO) than are found in well-documented nonsmokers.