Cigarettes and Mucous

Cigarette smoke inhibits protein causing mucous build-up in lungs.
MedPage Today (2/21, Smith) reported that cigarette smoke suppresses the Bik protein's ability to prevent "an overpopulation of mucus-producing cells in the lungs," according to a study in the Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. The researchers looked at "cells obtained by bronchial brushing" from 11 volunteers with chronic bronchitis and nine with no lung disease, and found that Bik, btu no other Bcl-2 proteins, was reduced "significantly (P<0.05) in the cells from those with bronchitis." They also compared "airway tissue obtained on autopsy" from six deceased smokers, who had chronic bronchitis, with six former smokers who had not had chronic bronchitis and five nonsmokers. They found that Bik levels were "significantly reduced (P<0.05) in the airway tissue" only in the former smokers who had chronic bronchitis.