Nicotine modulation of cytokine induction by LPS-stimulated human monocytes and coronary artery endothelial cells

Nicotine, the major addictive component of tobacco, is an immunomodulator that impacts on many cells, including immune cells involved in inflammatory processes. Nicotine also induces oxidative damage to the vascular endothelium and accentuates lipid peroxidation, resulting in vascular cell dysfunction. Furthermore, vascular endothelial cells produce growth factors, such as cytokines and chemokines capable of stimulating and recruiting immune cells to atheromatous lesions. In addition, bacterial products including lipopolysaccharides (LPS), a major component of Gram negative bacterial cell walls, activate gene expression resulting in inflammatory cytokine production causing further damage to the vasculature. In the present study, the combined effects of nicotine and bacterial LPS on the expression of IL-6, IL-8, GRO-α and MCP-1 in cell lines of human coronary artery endothelial cells (HCAEC) and pulmonary monocytes (THP-1) were examined by quantitative real-time PCR and ELISA. Results showed that nicotine suppressed the LPS induced production of IL-6 and IL-8 in both cell lines. Since cytokines which alter homeostasis of both vascular endothelial and immune cells are critical for the atherogenic process, further studies are warranted to examine in detail the role of nicotine in terms of effects on inflammatory reactions, including those induced by bacterial infection.